Amritsar, September 4 A lot has already been said, written about body shaming and how it becomes a handy tool to bully women, when all else fails. Despite the dialogue, it has become one the most serious forms of bullying and harassment among women, the recent example being the incident with actor Zareen Khan. But in a world marred by body shaming bullies, shining stars like Pranati Bhalla give hope to many more to just keep doing your best and not get intimidated. Bhalla, a make-up artist and plus size model, has won the first runner-up title at the Maven Plus Size Miss India contest and this is just the beginning for her. “I feel really glad to have won a title at beauty pageant as it was my first, though I have previously walked the ramp at Lakme Fashion Week and for few brands. Though, winning a pageant, I believe is not a parameter to prove my point, but it definitely is a big confidence booster and step forward to make people understand that beauty is not defined by body size, shape or colour,” said Pranati. She also received the title of Miss Fashion Icon at the event held in Delhi recently. An entrepreneur, Pranati shared that she had to deal with a lot of body shaming and bullying as a teenager. “I was always a bit bigger than what people usually perceive to be the ‘perfect body size’. So, obviously, I had to deal with lot of shaming, negative comments while growing up. At one point of time, it did affect my confidence and a lot of self-doubt also crept in. But as a makeup artist, while working with models, realised that no one seemed to be happy with their bodies. Either it was the eyes or the nose, the waist size, no matter what you do, people would still have a lot of judgements about your body. That’s when I decided to just embrace myself and be happy with myself, inside and out,” she said. Pranati was shortlisted among 800 women across the country to participate in the pageant for plus size women. Having set more life goals, Pranati said that she hopes to reach out to more women dealing with body issues and help them overcome their insecurities.

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