Finalist Detail 2024

Shashi Yadav

  • Gurgaon
  • A Brief about yourself and how you describe your own Personality and Persona.
  • I am Queen Shashi Yadav. I’m an extrovert, creative, adventure and fun loving person and have completed 59 years of my beautiful journey of life. I’m an Army Brat, proud wife of an Army General, and a blessed mother to three successful and caring children including a daughter like daughter-in-law. My smile and laughter are infectious and help me make friends easily. I invest deeply in my relationships, and love to engage and exchange thoughts with people to learn and give shape to my ideas. I’m a fitness freak with love for sports and adventure activities. An avid traveller and a keen observer ... love to pick up and imbibe things from Mother Nature. I believe in good KARMA and power of prayers, and feel blessed to have a direct connect with the Almighty. My purse opens easily to help the needy. Passionate about cooking and photography, I have overtime also experimented with Stuffed Toys, Candle making, Creative Writing, Hindi Poetry, and do keep writing Letters to the Editor and sharing my views and ideas on the Govt Portals. I would love to ‘Leave Empty’ leaving a legacy behind through my positive thoughts and actions, and passing on my experiences and life skills to my children, friends and society. I have already signed for donating my Organs on my passing away!!

  • Your ‘Achievements’ that make you feel high.
  • Happy to state that life has given me ample opportunities to gain experience, excel and contribute in various fields, to today have a good Sense of Achievement:- (a) Early Life & Education. Studied in many Schools / Colleges which helped to build resilence to survive in different environments, make friends across the society, and excel in sports – A College & University Champion in Athletics and Badminton, and also All India Basic Leadership Certificate Holder from NCC. (b) Social Welfare. 13 years of teaching experience in India and abroad, running a Special School, enabling and empowering thousands of families of jawans while my husband served the Indian Army for almost 40 years. Helping the needy is an ongoing activity. (c) Adventurism. The adrenaline has been pumping all through! Have experienced almost everything – Bungee Jumping (from world’s highest point : Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa), Tandem Sky Diving in Dubai and South Africa, Scuba Diving in Andamans, Para Gliding at Bir Billing, White Water Rafting in Rishikesh and Thailand, Para Sailing in Pachmarhi, Hot Air Ballooning in Jabalpur, Kayaking in Maldives, and the zest to do more continues ... (d) Travelling. Travelling (mostly by road) has been a passion. Starting in 1989 (when we bought our first car), we toured all States of India over 25 years covering all hill stations, wild life sanctuaries, monuments and religious sites. We have also travelled to 28 countries till now (including many road trips in the Middle East, when my husband was posted as a Defence Attache in Saudi Arabia). The high point was a trip to Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet in 2019. (e) Photography. I like to capture all beautiful creations of nature and each and every moment with loved ones. Shutter Stock has accepted almost 1000 plus of my submissions, and 78 Images of these have also been sold till date.

  • Define the True Beauty.
  • True Beauty is beyond ‘skin-deep’. True Beauty comes from inner peace and happiness, and is a combination of Thought, Attitude and a supporting Personality. Thought beyond oneself – for the family, the needy and the society, Attitude – to give/share and readily contribute, and a Personality – friendly, amiable, unbiased and principled which attracts and finds ready acceptance. True Beauty glows and radiates, and is therefore more felt & experienced ... and may not always be visible to a mere onlooker!!

  • What makes a complete, healthy and happy Family for you?
  • Family is the basic building block of the society – Happy Families generate and sustain a strong Society & Nation. Happy Family for me is Togetherness (physically whenever possible, but in thought always) and Bonding (open communication to discuss anything & everything to include encouragement, re-assurance, guidance and rubbing shoulders during work/play) – which provides Affection, Warmth, Trust, Support and Security on one hand, and develops a sense of Tolerance, Acceptance and Gratitude on the other. While Unitary Family is emerging as a new norm, but I feel the Linkages - Backward (with Elders) and Lateral (with Siblings and Cousins) too are a must to have a feeling of Completeness in a family. And Health of Family relations is gauged by the strength of bonding ... wherein minor misunderstandings or difference of opinion or materialism will not shatter relationships.

  • What is your favourite Idea of Holidaying?
  • Holiday for me is taking a complete break from the routine commitments of life to immerse in Nature, appreciate the Godly Creations and connect with People! I love to drive away to places with my Hubby (and my children, whenever possible) on lo..ooonng trips. Holiday actually begins when you forget your routine behind, can spend time at the place you have chosen to visit, devote time to immerse in natural beauty/creations, do extensive photography (as I love to), do adventure activities and also have time to be with yourself. Our ISUZU (4X4) with good self containing capacity has taken us all around – Nepal (35 days), Lahaul Spiti (22 days) and Ladakh & Kashmir (25 days) have been a few long recent trips, while the short ones are frequent.

  • Why are you participating in Mrs India Queen of Substance?
  • I won a few Beauty Contests in my younger days within Army circles, and have recently been a Jury Member for a Mumbai-based Beauty Pageant. Based on the suggestions of my family and friends urging me to ‘Walk the Ramp’, I decided to participate in an event myself. So while surfing through the forthcoming events, I was impressed by the words ‘Queen of Substance’. Having a vast experience in various fields, I have decided to participate in Mrs INDIA Queen of Substance event to re-invent and re-energise myself to once again re-dedicate myself to societal responsibilities in my new Avtaar (added Experience & Maturity). Moreover, I have found the Founder Ritika Vinay and her Team very responsive and prompt, so I am looking forward to another good experience.

  • What bothers you most about what is happening in the country today?
  • I am most bothered by the weakening ‘Education System’. The educational institutions, especially the Higher Education Institutions, have largely become business houses, which provide Degrees to the students, but very few of them actually emerge as competent Managers/Workers on ground. Most tend to settle for lowly paid desk jobs, and shun ground and research work for lack of capability. While on one hand India boasts of numerous Global CEOs, but the gap between such chosen few and the masses is huge. The country is aspiring to emerge as ‘Vikshit Bharat’ by 2047, which will only be possible if we would be able to meet up with the global competition. Therefore, ‘Conversion of Teaching’ to ‘Capability & Competence of the Work Force’ is an imperative, without which India may not be able to take advantage of its so often mentioned ‘demographic dividend’. And education only can be a long term solution of most of our problems.

  • The Quote or Saying that encourages you.
  • The lines which appeal to me most are : ‘Strong women aren’t born. We are made by the storms we walk through’, and the ‘Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’. These two Quotes/Sayings are in a way interconnected and have always given me energy to continue to move forward under all circumstances.

  • What is true ‘Sportsmanship’ for you?
  • Sports are a good activity for maintaining physical fitness. However, in the name of ‘Competition’ and urge to ‘Always be a Winner’, the larger essence of Sports and Sportsmanship is generally lost sight of. Sportsmanship actually imparts & develops ‘Life Living Lessons’ : First – Participation (overcomes inhibition), Second – Take up Challenges & Rigours (develops ‘I can do it’ attitude), Third – Team Spirit (develops spirit of Collaboration, Sacrifice and Mutual trust), Fourth – Trust Judgements (teaches one to abide by Rules & Regulations), and Fifth – Accept Adversity/Defeat (teaches acceptability to life situations with grace, and motivates to come back stronger). In summation, Sportmanship is – to remain calm, composed, confident but humble under all circumstances.

  • If you are selected as a Charity Ambassador, what value addition would you like to make for our Society and how?
  • It would be a privilege to be a Charity Ambassador, to further give a sense of purpose and direction to my persona and skills to help improve upon the society, as also find partners who could step forward to contribute to the cause. I would be ready to persuade the potential Donors, as also help to design and lead the selected campaigns. In addition, I feel that ‘Improvements in Education System’ and ‘Clean and Green’ could be the two additional basic themes which could help to strengthen the foundations of the society, address various ills and make it self- sustaining in the years ahead.

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