A tribute to mothers

Beauty contest

Who says beauty pageants are restricted to the twenty-somethings of the City? ‘My Lovely Mum’, a pageant held recently, was meant exclusively for mothers.

The women who took part set aside their day-to-day chores and family responsibilities for a while to toss on their best clothes and set the ramp on fire.

The competition involved many stages and a grand finale, which pitted the top fifteen mothers against each other.

The mothers — with their families accompanying them — took to the stage to determine who would walk away with the grand prize — a trip of Beijing.

The competition started off quite late, but as the mothers decked themselves backstage, their children took over the stage and entertained the audience for a while. Four-year-old Aryan, for instance, informed the audience that his mother was the best.

Husbands too came forth to wish their wives the best, such as Sunil, whose wife Maya was one of the participants, who encouragingly told the participants, “May the best mother win.”

When the contestants finally did appear on stage, they were decked in black and red sequinned numbers, and shook their leg to the popular number Chammak Challo.

The dance was choreographed by Arun Kumar, and he too joined the ladies on stage, at one point picking up one of the mothers and whirling her around.

This was followed by the introduction round, in which the mothers changed into elegant ethnic wear and took the ramp.

As each lady walked, a brief video in which her husband and children spoke about her was played. The ladies then had to introduce themselves to the judges.

Next up was the talent round, in which the ladies were divided into three groups who performed three separate dance numbers — one hip-hop, one contemporary and one to Why this Kolaveri di?

Then, the contestants faced a question and answer round in which the judges quizzed them on a variety of aspects of motherhood.

Tina Rai Pun, one of the contestants, told Metrolife that the competition had been an experience of a lifetime.

Although her husband and two-and-a-half-year old son weren’t able to make it, she admitted to having a lot of fun.

“The event included a lot of dancing and I’m a trained dancer, so I enjoyed that. I’ve always been interested in walking the ramp and I didn’t think being a mother should stop me. Everything’s been happening so fast — but I really feel like a celebrity,” she said, excitedly.

Arun Kumar, who choreographed the ladies’ dance routine, said that it had been a pleasure to work with them. “Everyone is a natural dancer and my job is to bring out the best in them.

As mums, these ladies have so many responsibilities — but they’ve still come here to showcase their talent. It just proves that it’s never too late to live your dream,” he said.

Eventually, the lucky mother who stole the show was Tina Thilak, closely followed by Neethu Singh and Sangeeta in the second and third positions respectively.