My name is Chandni Khemai, I am 23 years old, was born in Amsterdam and
live in the Hague. My parents come from Surinam and my ancestors come from
India. Therefore, I feel both connected with
Surinam as well as with India, but still I have a different kind of
connection with India. I can speak the original Hindi language that is spoken
in India as well as the Sarnami Hindi language that is spoken in Surinam. I
love the Indian culture, the food, costumes, celebrations and more importantly
the unity. I have been to India and visited many cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi,
Jaipur, Chandigarh, Benares, Puna etc. Although there are differences in outer
appearance among all the cities and the people who live there, they are the
same from inside and there is unity. I can feel that and for me India is the
only and unique country where unity is expressed with joy and where a lot of
talent exists. I watch Bollywood movies, Indian serials and TV programs very
often. One of my favourite Bollywood movies is Jab We Met, one of my favourite
Indian serials is Geet Hui Sabse Parayi (this is an old serial and has already
ended unfortunately but it is my favourite) and one of my favourite Indian TV
program is the Kapil Sharma Show. Furthermore, when I start eating Gol Gappas
(Pani Puri) I just cannot stop! They are too delicious. So even though I live
in the Netherlands, I still have a strong connection with India.
My hobbies are spending quality time with parents, traveling,
presenting, singing urban Punjabi songs (songs of Imran Khan, Mickey Singh, The
Prophec, Sama Blake etc) and eating Gol Gappas!
I have studied Biomedical Sciences at the University of Leiden, because
carrying out research and investigating new things fascinates me. After
achieving my Bachelor Degree, I decided to study the Master Vitality and Ageing
since I found out that I was not interested in lab research but research
involving the component communication and research that focusses on the heath
care sector and specifically the elderly (care). I have carried out research
during my Bachelor and Master internship projects. During my bachelor
internship, I have done quantitative and qualitative research and investigated
the risk factors that are associated with one-year mortality among elderly
patients who visited the emergency department. Next to that, during the Master
internship I came up with five recommendations on how to improve the knowledge
transfer process within the University Network for Care Sector South Holland
(UNC-ZH) to enhance the quality of care for older adults in the care
organisations. I believe that from my research experience the most important
thing I learned was that you should not only perform research just because it
is research but carry it out without feeling that you are actually working.
Honestly, I thought that I would like doing lab research but I never liked
carrying out lab research when I actually did it. I came to know that I love
qualitative research under which doing interviews, surveys, organising focus
groups and analysing data. One of my strongest aspects is communication and
therefore I believe I feel more attracted to qualitative research. So an
important advice to next generation is: Find out yourself what kind of research
does not make you feel that you are working, but you are actually just enjoying
your time!
At the moment I am working as a program assistant at Netherlands Organisation
for Health Research and Development for the International program Joint
Programming Initiative More Years Better Lives (JPI MYBL). Also, I am PR
manager, presenter and interviewer of I AM FASHION TV, which is a lifestyle,
fashion and business program that promotes everyone and everything and is
broadcasted every Saturday night at 22:00 on the Amsterdam SALTO TV channel.
The collected money is used to improve the welfare and education status of
orphans living in India, South America and Africa. I work together with Dorine
Esien (the Head of I AM FASHION TV) and Remco Berendsen (the cameraman and
editor of I AM FASHION TV). I am very thankful to them that I got a chance at I
AM FASHION TV. Furthermore, I am one of the 16 finalists of the miss contest
Miss India Holland 2018.
I have diverse life goals and some of them are also related to the
reasons to participate with the miss contest. First of all, I am looking for a
PhD project that focusses on qualitative or/and implementation research in the
health care sector or/and elderly (care). Second, I want to develop myself
further in the media industry and grow as presenter. Third, I want to develop
as professional model both on national and international level. Fourth, I want
to make the desi society here in the Netherlands stronger, I think they can do
more than they show right now. Fifth, I want to improve the welfare and education
status of orphans. I am already working hard on this goal via I AM FASHION TV.
To be very honest, I never thought I could participate in a Miss
contest! I always wanted it, but I thought that it was all about the outer
beauty and also for me my study was the most important. However one day after
my graduation, someone from the miss contest organisation approached me and
asked whether I wanted to participate with this contest. I told her about my
life goals and she said that the organisation will support me and luckily it is
not only about the outer beauty. My reason to participate with Miss India
Holland is because it is a platform where I can get the possibility the achieve
all my life goals on a much higher level. It is a platform where you not only
learn about how to do catwalk, how to dance on professional level, how to
present yourself, how to deal with the media and social media (how to deal with
several kinds of reactions) but most importantly you also learn how to network.
During the miss contest, you will meet a lot of people from different
backgrounds and with divergent specialities. For me it is not just about the
title itself because that is only a status or position, but it is about what
you can achieve with that title for yourself and the society, whether you can
represent your community and can add value to your society as well.
On 22 September 2017 I signed up as one of the contestants and on 5
November I received an invitation for the selection round. I was quite nervous
because there were a lot of beautiful contestants there, but I still was
self-assured about my goals and really motivated to be part of the contest. I
was really happy when I got a call from the organisation afterwards and they
told me that I was one of the 16 finalists of Miss India Holland 2018. Till now we received six trainings in which
we had a catwalk training, social media training, workshop make up, workshop
pose and a photoshoot. In all those trainings, we not only learned techniques
but also how to present yourself and how to deal with the media. We will get
trainings in the future on how to answer questions during the question round on
the final day. We get tips and tricks to prepare the question round (know your
strengths and goals, look up information about the contest itself, look at how
other previous contestants have answered and also look at other contests) and on
how to focus on the questions (answers short but direct, take your time, breath
well and always stay confident), but your answer needs to be original. The
question round is therefore the only round where all contestants can show their
intelligence, express their way of thinking and their strength. Our first
photoshoot took place in the Holland Photo Studio in Dordrecht in which we had
a natural beauty photoshoot (not so heavy make-up). During this photoshoot we
also had a Christmas shoot!
During the last meeting (17-12-2017) I received my sash from Miss Preety
Dhillon (Miss India Holland 20187). It was a great honour receiving my sash
from her!
In January we will receive choreography trainings for the first time. I
am really looking forward to that! I really want to encourage every lady with
Indian background who is living in the Netherlands to focus on their life
goals, their personal as well as societal goals. Also, I want to pin point that
miss contests is not only about the outer appearance, it is also about your way
of thinking and your voice which express your life goals! If any lady with Indian
background knows that she wants to develop herself and add value to the
society, then I want to request her to sign up to the Miss India Holland
contest. It is not only just a contest, it is a platform where you can develop
yourself, network and grow as a person.
I do not have specifically one mentor that supports or guides me, I have
a lot of people who are behind me. The Miss India Holland Team is always behind
my back and consists of many persons such as Preety Dhillon, Aniel Kienno,
Wishaya Angnoe, Mitch Kanhai, Vidjai Ganpat, Henk Mohabier, Sudhier Nannan,
Rajshri Khargi, Sjekiela Ajoeb, Rishma Soedhoe, Krishan Balak ect. The list is
too long. Besides the team itself, my family are my biggest support. My parents
are always there for me and support me with everything. My aunt by marriage,
Concella Anneke Ghurahoo, is a make-up artist and is always there when I need
her. Next to my parents and aunt by marriage, my two sweet nephews Yash Arav
and Shay Aadi Ghurahoo are my biggest supporters. They are pure, no shadow or
ego, just pure nature and they give me energy that is unmeasurable!
My definition of beauty is recognizing the real you, your soul, and
being aware of the ego which is visible and which you need to achieve your
goals in this material world. Stay confident but never arrogant. Learn things
in life, develop up yourself, adapt, grow but do not let your ego become your
boss in life, your soul is the real boss.
My favourite motivational quote is be the real you in life!
After Miss India Holland, I also want to focus on the Urban Punjabi Industry
and entertainment industry. I would like to try singing in the Urban Punjabi Industry
and acting. Those are both future steps of mine. They were always in my head
and I want to see how far I could come in Life.
I would like to say a few things to our students of today, tomorrow and
the future:
In today’s world status matters a lot, whether that is education or a
position in society. I want to encourage every student to get the maximum out
them self. Study is number 1 in life and after graduation you can focus on all
your other wishes or talents. It is never too late. Work hard in life and never
forget the ones who have brought you far in life. They also made you who are
you today. For me those are my parents. Please respect your parents and spend
and enjoy time with them when it is possible.
I want to thank Shaaji KanDoMed for providing me this opportunity to
express myself. Hopefully you guys will support me through liking my Facebook
Miss Page https://www.facebook.com/MissChandniKhemai/. If you guys are present in the Netherlands on
14 April 2018, then please come to see the final of Miss India Holland 2018 and
vote for me, if you feel doing so. Thank you for reading me text, hopefully you
liked it.
Be the real you in Life
Miss Chandni Khemai
Miss India Holland 2018
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