Vernika Jain - I Won a Pageant in 2017 Which Was the First Ever Plus Size Pageant in India Called MS Plus Size (Fashion Model)

People should not be defining a person by their body type or the way they look but rather by the person they are and their personality.

1.Tell us more about your background and journey.

 I am Vernika, I am 26-year-old and I am a plus size model from Delhi. I have been born and brought up in Delhi and I have always been a chubby child. So, when I became a teenager more and more people started telling me to lose weight so that I look good. 

But I never felt that I look bad just because I have put on weight so for me it was kind of a feeling which I could not resonate with. As I started growing up and reached my adulthood, I realized that Indian society looks at you in a different light if you are a plus size person. 

They don’t see you as an individual or as a personality but rather they just define you by your size. That same goes with people who are skinny. So, there is a lot of objectifying I saw around me which I did not like and I think that is what motivated me to take an initiative to actually turn all this negativity into positivity for people and be able to change at least few mindsets that body size is not something that defines a person.

2. How did you become a model and reach this stage?

I started my journey in 2016 with LAKME, I got a message from LAKME that for the first time they are organizing a plus size show with real plus size models and they were auditioning for it. In the audition there were 400+ participants. I got selected along with 4 male models and 5 females models to walk the ramp for Little Shilpa, she is a designer who works with big labels such as Lady Gaga. So, that was a big thing to me and that’s how my journey into modelling started.

I wanted to go and participate in that LAKME show because I had faced a lot of backlashes in my years before that and I felt this to be an excellent initiative by the industry to actually change people’s point of view in India which was much required thing at that point of time. 

It has come a long way I would say, the change has been vast and there have been lot of repel effects and people have started understanding that weight is just a thing, also fashion industry now accommodates all shapes and sizes which gives me a lot of happiness because earlier the options were limited only to people with certain size. 

If you wanted to buy a designer piece there was nothing available beyond size 14 and people used to see you in a different eye. But now more and more brands especially in India are opening up to make plus size clothes even sizes which are exclusive for skinny people like SS. The range is going wider with more varieties more options for all sort of body types to wear and enjoy in fashion industry.

So, that journey from 2016 to 2021 have been a vast change and I am happy to say that I was a part of this much needed change. After 2016 I won a pageant in 2017 which was the first ever plus size pageant in India called MS PLUS SIZE. This was actually remarkable because I saw how women of bigger sizes required and needed that platform. 

It was a soul defining moment for them. People should not be defining a person by their body type or the way they look but rather by the person they are and their personality. 

So, that was an amazing place where I actually learned that this society needed a change and this was the time to bring a change and I think that is why I have been able to resonate with a lot of people in India, almost 60% of the population is on bigger size scale. 

That is why people could relate to me and liked me for what I was doing. I was happy to become the voice for people and I owe all my success to those people actually for relating to me, women girls even kids who were facing the problem that I faced. 

Being a plus size was not acceptable in India since few years back but I see a great amount of change and I hope to continue this journey to bring even further change.

3. What are the challenges you face and how do you overcome it?

The journey was not easy, there were lot of hurdles, lot of problems that were that were faced. Especially because Indian society don’t accept models and they don’t take them in a positive light and even after being a plus size that is additional taboo for people. 

Actually, bringing relatives and friends for such kind of modeling aspect was not that easy. Lot of people questioned me that if it was even legit. But I had to keep going. I was called lot of names earlier when I started my blog page. I got lot of backlashes, and people thought that obese were given a new name by just calling them body positive and plus size which was not actually the true fact. 

All the community in plus size modeling are very conscious about their health, they want to be super healthy and try to maintain a very positive lifestyle which was needed to bring in front of people, for people to understand that its not about obesity, or we are promoting something negative but we are trying to change the negative thinking to positive. 

Allowing people to enjoy the way they are, who they are rather than coming under societal pressure and not being able to accept themselves. I really feel people need to love themselves more and that is what this initiative is all about.

 4. Apart from modelling what are your other interests?

Well, at the time I started modeling I was actually doing Chartered Accounting and currently I am doing my MBA. So, you can have multiple goals in life, and body positivity is something which is close to my heart, that is why I supported full and dedicated myself to this concern. 

But definitely people can have multiple interest so do I. I love to read books, watching movies. I like to go and meet my friends, family. And the most enjoyable moment for me is when I am on the stage when I am modeling or shooting because I know that I am impacting someone’s life positively and there will be somebody around me who will be impacted by it and be positive about it, feel happy about themselves and accept them just the way they are.

5. What is your opinion of body image created by the media and how hard is it to put up with?

I think media earlier when I started modeling as a plus size model was not that supportive. Then I got a lot of backlash that we are promoting obesity we are not trying to promote health and bad lifestyle to people and especially to young audiences that watch us. 

But over the time they realized that what we are trying to do is actually to spread positivity about who you really are that your body type or weight is not something that define you, we are trying to promote a healthy lifestyle but also to accept yourself the way they are. 

There are lot of people in the world no matter what they do how healthy their lifestyle is they are still a certain body type. They can’t change that but the society pressure makes them dislike or I might even add hate the which I have seen in some circumstances which is absolutely not the right thing. 

I am trying to change that kind of mindset and I am proud to be a part of this notion and this journey that even if I am able to impact one person and impact the way they think about themselves; they start loving themselves I think that’s the big deal.

Actually, media has now about 2 years ago they started backing us, supporting us. When they saw the cause that what it truly mate. In fact, media has helped us a lot to enlarge our audience, make our voice reach to lot of people. So, I think I am grateful to media without them the right kind of opinion would not have been possible. 

This movement would not have been possible and I wouldn’t have been standing where I am today. I think earlier there was a little change required but now media is very supportive and it is great to see that.

At the end I would like to share a small incident. When I started my MBA journey a year back, I met a person who is along with me and she came up to me and told me that Vernika I know you from before, when I saw your profile, I was not in a happy state. 

My friend showed me your profile and showed me how confident you are even after being a plus size person and fat. Fat is not a big negative word; it is something which everybody has. 

So, she said that made me changed the way I used to think about myself, I was in a very dark place and your profile actually helped me to come out of it and I see myself in a different light today. 

So the moral that I took from that story was even I am able to change only 1 person I was more than happy and I knew I was on a positive journey and I want to continue this forever.

Vernika Jain

Instagram id: @thatfarziblogger

Interviewed by: Aradhna Kumari