Rhea Manjrekar traded in her running shoes and track shorts for high heels and an evening gown recently, as she participated in the Miss Teen India New York pageant. The 15-year-old from Hicksville snagged the title of first-runner up, and will be competing for the national title in December.
This was Manjrekar’s first time competing in a pageant. But she started out with major doubts about even participating.
“At first, I didn’t want to do it. I have extreme stage fright. My mom told me to try it out because she thought it would boost my confidence and look good on my college applications, so I went for the practice,” Manjrekar said. “The girls were so nice. I thought I wouldn’t fit in but I made friends immediately so I decided to do it.”
Sept. 7, the day of the pageant, was a “whirlwind” with a practice in the morning and then rushing to get hair, makeup and her outfit perfect for the three rounds. The first part of the pageant was modeling a traditional Indian outfit.
“The idea of the pageant is to show that even though we were born here in America, we still have our Indian roots,” says Manjrekar. “That’s so important to me. I love the pageant because of that idea.”
After that was an evening gown and talent portion. While many of the other contestants did a traditional Indian dance, Manjrekar did something a little more unconventional.
“I’m a second degree black belt in taekwondo so I did a black belt form which included a lot of kicking and punching and precise coordination. I broke three wood boards, one
with my palm, one with a front snap kick and one with a roundhouse kick,” says Manjrekar.
The 11 contestants were then narrowed down to the top five. Manjrekar, who only had a week’s worth of pageant experience, was extremely surprised when her name was called.
“That was a big shock. Most of the other girls had done this before and practiced for months. I was very grateful and so happy,” says Manjrekar.
The finalists then each had to answer a question, and Manjrekar had tell the judges what she thought would be the best way to pass on the Indian culture to future generations.
“I think the Indian culture is very important and really beautiful. I’m very lucky to have parents who think Indian culture is very important and they’ve taught me values of how important family is and how lucky I am to have a good education,” Manjrekar told the judges. “I would make it my number one priority to make sure my kids know about the Indian culture and make it a very fun and festive thing.”
After the Question and Answer session, the girls were called back up and a winner was announced. Manjrekar had no expectations on winning, but was announced as first runner up.
“My jaw literally dropped. My friends were hugging me and they put the crown on me and for that whole minute it was a blur. There were lots of cameras and hugs. It’s something I’ll never forget,” she says.
As the first runner-up, Manjrekar will join the winner, Karishma Malhotra, to compete for the National title of Miss Teen India USA in December.
Manjrekar is currently focusing on her sophomore year at Hicksville High School, running track and cross country, her charity Children’s Hope 3, and getting ready for the pageant in December. As for doing other pageants, Manjrekar says it’s a definite possibility.
“At first, I didn’t know if I wanted to do it. But now I know it’s worth all the stress and hard work,” says Manjrekar. “You make so many new friends and I got this whole new level of confidence and I feel comfortable with myself for the first time. I encourage every girl to do this. Doing a pageant gives you that boost of confidence that every girl needs.”
