Twelve young women will vie for the title of Miss Sari Trinidad and Tobago on Friday 18th October at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts, San Fernando. The pageant, which is geared to “empowering our young women through pageantry with pride and dignity,” is now in its second year. “The purpose of Miss Sari Trinidad and Tobago is to make role models in communities, by harnessing their social skills,” said Erica Caton, co-founder and executive producer of the pageant.
“The pageant is not just about teaching young women to model; it’s also teaching them self-development and life skills.” Why a sari pageant? “A sari is one of the most elegant traditional East Indian garments which can also be worn by women of different races,” Caton told Her Magazine. “When you wear a sari you feel empowered.
A sari tells so many stories.” The pageant was also Caton’s way of breaking the stereotype that a sari was just meant for Indo-Trinbagonian women. A product of an Indo Trinidadian mother and Afro Trinidadian father, Caton herself has broken a few stereotypes in her life.
She went to a Hindu primary school and was enrolled in an East Indian dance school when she was just 7. Now, she is a practicing Hindu, the lead dancer and artistic director of the Vikash School of Dancers and a woman who loves wearing saris. “I am also using this platform to show that we are all one.
” The Miss Sari pageant will feature three segments - The Indian/Oriental wear, the Talent segment and the Question-and-Answer segment. In the first year the pageant was affiliated with an international franchise. But Caton has since cut ties with that organisation, she said, to make the pageant a better fit from Trinidad and Tobago.
“There were just too many restrictions,” she said. “That’s why we took last year off and returned this year.” Caton described the first year of the pageant as being “exceptional”, in terms of support and turnout.
“That’s why I continued.” With the absence of the international leg of the pageant Caton, whose day job finds her in the field of procurement and finance in the public sector, said the 2024 Miss Sari queen’s reign will include community based and charitable projects. Along with the crown, the winner and the runners up, will also receive cash prizes.
“We are focused on enhancing the quality of life for our young women so that they can realise their full potential. Our strategies are aimed at ensuring our young women contribute to the sustainable development of Trinidad and Tobago as leaders within their communities,” Caton said. The delegates for Miss Sari Trinidad and Tobago Beauty Pageant are: -Yogita Badree -Rosemary Mohammed -Kimberly Seetaram -Anupriya Ramjohn -Rachael Doorpat -Anushka Seeth -Kashmeera Holass -Diya Maharaj -Kayla Maharaj -Ann-Marie Briggs -Reanna Bribal -Daliya Gopaul.
