Sneha Chakraborty is a young married Bengali woman. But what set her apart from the others are her determination and her passion to do something in her life. An entrepreneur, an actress and now the winner of Mrs. India Universe Kolkata 2018, she has been setting new goals for herself as well an example for many married women in the country. The Kolkata Mail correspondent caught up with her at Calcutta 64, her cafe in Salt Lake. Excerpts..

Congrats on winning the title of Mrs India Universe Kolkata.
Sneha Chakraborty- Thank you very much. It is due to the good wishes of everyone that I have finally fulfilled my dream.

How was the experience?
Sneha Chakraborty- Well I had a great time. I have made many friends. We were 51 participants and leaving me, I have made friends with the fifty participants in the contest. We celebrated each other’s diversity and had a gala time. We used to get only four hours of rest but that did not stop us from enjoying ourselves. We rushed from one grooming session to the other and in between we conversed with one another and enjoyed our time together.

You have won at other beauty pageants too. And now you have won at a national pageant. Tell us about this journey.
Sneha Chakraborty- I won Shera Sundori in 2005. I was the second runner up of Dabur Gulabari Fresh Face in 2007. But those were events for the unmarried girls and this is one for the married ladies. So that is a big difference. He contestants at the event were professionals from various fields. Some of them have kids and they manage their personal and professional lives so well. So it was a hard task competing with all of them as everyone gave their best. I won sub-titles of Mrs Beautiful Smile and Mrs Talented. It made me happy that out of so many contestants, my smile is the most beautiful.

Your next target will be the international pageants. Where will you be participating?
Sneha Chakraborty- I will surely be participating in the international ones but as of now it has not been decided as to which one I will be attending. I will get to know that by January.

Apart from losing weight, what were the other challenges that you faced?
Sneha Chakraborty- The other challenge that I faced was returning to the stage after a gap of some time. I have been married for a year and half now. I was away from the stage and I thought that maybe I will be not able to present myself with confidence. But thankfully, I was able to overcome that on the stage.

Fourteen participants were from Kolkata. So you had a small Bengali group at the contest. Right!!
Sneha Chakraborty- Well, yes we had 14 participants from Kolkata but not all were Bengali. But we all had a gala time. We were teamed with another woman from another state. At the end of the day when we got back to our rooms, we used to share stories about each other’s lives. After the event, we now have WhatsApp groups to connect with each other. There is a pan-India group and a Kolkata group. Now that we have all come back, we are all doing our work. Some among us were doctors, social workers, teachers, entrepreneurs and so on. The pageant is all about women empowerment and we all have been living up to it.

What is next in line for you? I know you are keen to work in films yet again..
Sneha Chakraborty- Yes, I want to work in films. But that does not mean that I will not be working in serials or other things. I will be shooting a TVC soon. I have worked in Oriya and South Indian films, so I am open to working in films in different languages. My main objective is to maintain the honour of the crown and do different kinds of work. In my own way, I also want to make some changes in the society. We organized a silent walk against domestic violence in Pune with all the participants. Things like that appeal to me and I want to do something to benefit our society.

What is your message to the other married women in India?
Sneha Chakraborty- My only advice is that if I can, then you also can. You have to keep on persevering and do the hard work to achieve your dreams. You do not need to participate in any beauty pageant to prove your mettle. That can be proved simply by doing hard work and believing in yourself!!

We wish Sneha continues doing hard work and make India proud on the international level!!