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Colours of Courage: Manya Singh a rickshaw driver’s daughter on making it as a model and facing discrimination
Here is how Manya Singh, a rickshaw driver’s daughter made it as a model while facing discrimination.
Manya Singh is proud to be the daughter of an autorickshaw driver. Yet, the small-town girl from Uttar Pradesh faced her own share of challenges on her path to stardom. “I was born in Mumbai, but my parents kept moving from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh. It's as if one has given me value and the other has given me life. I had to move to UP in just 6 months and start a new school with different people, and a different environment. As a result, I grew up to be a very shy child,” she reveals.
Keeping the family of four afloat was a challenge for her parents, an autorickshaw driver and a housewife-turned-beautician mother. But Singh says she always had big dreams. “Even as a shy child, I loved being on stage because I knew that this is how people would notice me because of my dance. But at the end of the day, I was a joke to everyone around me,” she confesses.
She recalls one of her childhood memories that still haunts her, “In school, I participated in an annual function and was an excellent dancer, but due to my dark complexion, I was kept in the back of the line, which added to my insecurities.” She was searching for validation that she was also beautiful, but she was always last in line. Manya also explains how she didn't have friends growing up as her parents pushed her to focus on her studies.
Manya's early years were anything but ordinary. She ran away from her village after finishing high school, feeling trapped in her home in Uttar Pradesh, which seemed too far away from her dreams. Her family soon followed their daughter to Mumbai, but the small-town girl was now facing a battle in the big city. Singh took a job at a pizza parlour because she didn't have enough money to finish junior college. She fretted, “Everyone knows I had to leave home for my dream, and with home somewhere, I had left my old self behind to become a woman of substance. I did face financial difficulties, but those experiences literally taught me to be happy and grateful in any circumstance.” She had seen everything and eventually changed herself from Kajal to Manya, as she was affectionately known at her home.
As a graduate in banking and insurance, during her college years, the Miss India runner-up began modelling. She observed and learned from the people she met there. Manya desired to pursue modelling as a career because she had always aspired to be Miss India. She reveals, “I wanted to be Miss India but banking was something my parents wanted me to do and I respected their decision and kept working on both ways.” She claims that she has always followed her heart, but never at the expense of her parents' concerns.
Manya entered the pageant world in 2016, but it was far from easy for her. She says she spent many afternoons walking for miles and looking for work. Additionally, there are certain criteria and beauty standards that we live up to, and she says society did not accept her face as beautiful. She confesses in dissatisfaction, “We are the ones who will choose fit to be slim and beautiful. Covet fairness everywhere, no matter how many books, movies tell us to see beauty from the inside. This is a strong root in society and for me breaking that barrier was super tough.”
She admits, “During my modelling days, as well as during and after pageants, I faced a lot of discrimination.” The model revealed that she has been rejected several times in her life and has met people who have made comments about her appearance and background.
Her father believed in his 14-year-old daughter's irrational desire to make it big in the city. He believed in her, which is why today the daughter of a rickshaw driver stands with a crown on her head. Her message to other parents whose daughters aspires to be models is, “Don’t teach or tell your daughters ‘How to make roti or apne ghar jana hai ek din’; instead, give her wings. She is your prized possession ‘(Amant) hoti hai betiya.’ Teach her how to use a pen to change the world around her, and tell her that this is her home, and that because she is a Queen, she is strong enough to build an empire. The day she will make her parents proud is the day she will tell her father that he is truly a blessed man because he not only has a girl, but he also has the womb of the universe,” she says emotionally.
Manya’s journey received praise from all over India following her success as Miss India's runner-up. She recalls, “When I arrived for my homecoming, I felt calm in the midst of the chaos as I saw my mother, father, and brother. It is an honour to be their daughter and sister. I even bought them a sweet house in Mumbai.” She got to where she is today by taking one step at a time and crossing each hurdle fearlessly. And she has no intention of turning back!
