Miss World 2009 Preparation

Pooja Chopra

Tired of answering questions about joining Bollywood, Miss India World Pooja Chopra has only the Miss World competition on her mind which she says is taking up all her time and concentration.
"I am tired of answering this question. I can't tell you how busy I am with Miss World preparations. It demands full concentration and at this moment winning the crown holds top priority in my life," Pooja Chopra told IANS on the sidelines of an event here.
This year the Miss World contest will take place in South Africa, and Pooja Chopra says that her preparations for the contest are going on in full swing.
"I start my day at 5.30 a.m. and after a hectic daily schedule I try to hit the bed by 11.00 p.m. I devote equal time to gym, diction, catwalk classes and my daily sessions with the dietician. Apart from this if I have to go to some event, and then things become very hectic," Pooja Chopra said.
Elaborating on her preparations, the leggy lass said that the preparations for the international pageant were "very different" from those for Miss India.
"There is a stark difference between the two. The reason is that at the Miss World contest I will be competing with 120 girls from different countries and international standards are to be followed, which means I have to pay extra effort in diction, catwalk and current affairs," Pooja Chopra said.
"The most important thing is that I would be representing India whereas when I participated in Miss India contest I was simply Pooja Chopra. There lays the major difference," she added.
Pooja Chopra is confident of her victory and said that she is giving her 100 percent. And if the nation prays for her victory, she might bring back the crown.
"All I want is support from everyone. Just pray for me," Pooja Chopra said.
Last year, Parvathy Omanakuttan was the first runner-up in Miss World. Reita Faria (1966) was the first Indian to win this crown and after that Aishwarya Rai (1994), Yukta Mukhi (1999), Priyanka Chopra (2000) achieved success.

Home is where the Heart is

Friday, 22 May 2009 - Pooja Chopra Writes
As I even enter my city I suddenly feel this rush of energy flow into my body n although half asleep as I was up till now, I now find myself kind off break into "masakkali" dance playing on Pune’s FM radio. That’s what my city does to me. Everything around me as I pass my college, my school, my old hang out places, bakeries every road as if has some story to it and makes me nostalgic. The sense of belonging that I feel towards my city is inexplicable :) and then entering my home. Even though the small 1bhk it is, feels so peaceful and the best place in the world... truly said, "Home is where the heart is".

Mom then has so many stories to tell. Hardly realise that I’ve just entered home not even freshened up but sit for hours listening to what all she has to say n all that she as to hear. I feel so comfortable in this space. dinner time its all diet food but the mental satisfaction that its home made n cooked by mom i usually tend to overeat :) go to bed by 10 coz i start feeling so lazy n drowsy . The early morn feeling is the best. I wake up and feel how mornings feel in Pune... it’s so different!! And as the day progresses I meet my so adorable Nani... I absolutely love her!! My cousins my frdz, remember old times...yaadein..meethi meethi yaadein :) :)

By Pooja Chopra on Fri, 22 May, 2009 on itimes blog

Pooja Chopra Wallpapers

Pooja Chopra Wallpapers

Mother's Day

Pooja Chopra says that she is what her mother made her after surviving a broken marriage and bringing up her sister and Pooja by working round the clock.

So, to ask Pooja Chopra what she did on Mother’s Day 2009.

“I couldn’t do much,” she rued.

Why couldn't you do much?

“Life has been very hectic, especially since the last three days. I bought my mother sarees, a diamond set and a lovely bouquet of flowers,” said Pooja Chopra.

So many gifts, what about quality time with her?

“Yeah, that too! I made adrak wali chai for her for the first time in my life. I must say she was quite surprised. My mother is a rockstar. She has become the mother of the year and she deserves every bit of appreciation that is coming her way,” she says. And Pooja says that her mom was happy that she was working on Mother’s Day. “I was working because she has taught me that work comes first. She was happy that I was busy with work!” added Pooja Chopra.
And what about her father?

Does she ever think about him? “Why would I? What dad did wasn’t good. I want to tell him – you didn’t want me, but look, I have done so much to make my mother proud of me. She is really happy today and that smile will remain forever,” said Pooja Chopra.

Third May 2009

Third May 2009, my dream did come true, I did cut my cake as a Miss India – the icing on the cake was mom was right beside me. Yes!! All thanks to ToI, early noon on my birthday, I sat in my pyjamas, replying to all my mails – mom enters my room and my jaw drops! Literally! Cos I knew one thing for sure – cos as much as mom wants to be with me, she really wouldn’t spend all the way Pune to Delhi, cos according to her, a penny saved is a penny earned. But when I saw her, I was wondering if I was hallucinating! My expression was quite familiar similar to the one on the the 5th of April, 2009 – the day I won the crown! It’s only later that I realised that it wasn’t mom but ToI who felt that the presence of my mom would be the best gift they could ever give me. I so agree with them!!!
We sat chatting for hours after that – so much to catch up on! Topics didn’t seem to end at all. I was so happy! J. Time flew and from noon it was evening – time to leave for the Times Food Awards. Had no clue what it would be like – had heard a lot about it – but had never been a part of it. For the first time ever I experienced what it felt like to give away an award – to be a part of someone else’s moment of glory! Wow! Too many good things happening at the moment. I think I must carry a piece of wood around with me all the time now. Don’t even want to open my eyes because I feel it all is a dream. For me a moment of pride was when the most reputed people of Delhi came up to mom and exclaimed what an inspiration she has been. A number of people came up to her with tears in their eyes - because either they themselves or someone they knew had been through the same thing – and they were so happy that mum’s a winner. I swear even mom was teary eyed once or twice during the evening. And imagine being surrounded by the best of the best food in Delhi – award winning food I might add – Korean, Italian, Continental, Chinese, pastries and even coffees – thank God it was my birthday and I was allowed to indulge! God really is great!!! J.
Left at 2 am, but was still up chatting with mom till 5 am, and had to wake up early to catch the 8 am flight back to the city that never sleeps – I think I’m going to fit right in!

happy birthday to me

honestly...trust me at d moment i feel lik a mixed bag of emotions..literally!! m so so happy that my dream of cutting my birthday cake as a miss india is finally gona come true TODAY.. :) but wat is a bday without ur own ppl around???? specially mom :( yes people.. m far away 4m home ....m in delhi!! n all my frdz ,cousins, mom all r bk home in pune ,probably as upset as i am ,tat i couldn b wit dem...but den again as mom says"work is worship".. so i celebrate my bday this eve amist all whos who of delhi with d best of delicacies around...as it happens to b "times food awards" today eve!! sure to hav a god time but wouldve been better had mom been der.stop sulking poojaaa !! d brighter side is tat ill b celebratin my bday again tom once i get bk to bomb with my bomb frdz ;) n ven i get to pune with family n frdz again :) n dn ven i go dubai later next week my frdz hav planned a bash der :) :) :)...soooooo.....celebrations just wont seem to end 4me 4a while now.... wow !! that does bring a smile on my face..but m stil gonna miss d early morn gifts n flowers i used to get at home 4m my buddies...miss u guys!!!

Written by Pooja Chopra on Sun, 03 May, 2009

Kill Pooja Chopra or Forfeit Marriage

Pooja Chopra's survival is being celebrated throughout India. However, when the Miss India World 2009 was 20 days old, her mother Neera Chopra was asked by her husband to make a choice - kill her child or forfeit the marriage.
Despite knowing that she would be thrown out the house, Neera Chopra decided to keep her daughter, and thus defied the wishes of a bullying husband who wanted the baby destroyed.
Now, twenty-three years later, Pooja, a vivacious young woman, has become a quintessential example of the axiom: every cloud has a silver lining.
She has also become a symbol for the campaign against a tradition that values boys above girls.
"When my mother walked out on my dad, she said to him, `One day this girl will make me proud'. All my life I've wanted my mum to be proud of the decision that she chose me," The Times quoted Pooja Chopra, as saying.
Her success has brought Neera Chopra into the limelight.
Neera Chopra's husband had a respectable job but was a philanderer, prone to domestic violence.
After the birth of her first child, a girl named Shubhra, he made her life a misery. When she became pregnant again, seven years later, Neera Chopra clung to the hope that if the baby was a boy her marriage could be saved. Instead she had Pooja Chopra. Her husband and his relatives refused to visit the baby in hospital.
"I had to make a choice. I left the house with my girls and I haven't seen my husband since," Neera said.
He married another woman and refused to give any financial support to his daughters. Neera worked incessantly to provide for them: "I used to struggle for shoes, socks, uniforms. Sometimes I couldn't put two square meals a day on the table."
Pooja Chopra had nothing to say to her father, who "does not exist" for her.
"I don't even know if my father knows it is me, his daughter, who has set out to conquer the world. Today, when people call to congratulate me, it's not me they pay tribute to, but to [my mother's] life and her struggle. She's the true woman of substance," Pooja Chopra said. (ANI)

Revenge for Miss India

The Story Rewritten By Nicola Smith

WHEN Pooja Chopra was 20 days old, her mother Neera Chopra was forced to make a choice - kill her child or forfeit her marriage.
Neera Chopra decided to keep her daughter, defying the wishes of a bullying husband who wanted the baby destroyed. She knew she would be thrown out of the family home.
Twenty-three years later, Pooja Chopra’s survival is being celebrated throughout India. Now a vivacious young woman, last month she won a beauty contest to become Miss India World. She has also become a symbol for the campaign against a tradition that values boys above girls; it is said this has led to an imbalance in the ratio of Indian men to women and to social problems.
“When my mum walked out on my dad, she said to him, ‘One day this girl will make me proud’.
All my life I’ve wanted my mum to be proud of the decision that she chose me,” Pooja said last week.
Neera has been thrust into the limelight by her daughter’s success. She has been dubbed Mother India and has already been approached by one Bollywood director who wants to film her story.
For Neera, the memory of her husband’s cruelty remains a “nightmare”. He had a respectable job but was a philanderer, prone to domestic violence. After the birth of her first child, a girl named Shubhra, he made her life a misery.
When she became pregnant again, seven years later, Neera clung to the hope that if the baby was a boy her marriage could be saved. Instead she had Pooja. Her husband and his relatives refused to visit the baby in hospital.
“I had to make a choice,” Neera said. “I left the house with my girls and I haven’t seen my husband since.”
He married another woman and refused to give any financial support to his daughters. Neera worked incessantly to provide for them: “I used to struggle for shoes, socks, uniforms. Sometimes I couldn’t put two square meals a day on the table.”
Pooja had nothing to say to her father, who “does not exist” for her. “I don’t even know if my father knows it is me, his daughter, who has set out to conquer the world,” she said.
“Today, when people call to congratulate me, it’s not me they pay tribute to, but to [my mother’s] life and her struggle. She’s the true woman of substance.”

Times Online UK

Pooja and Neera Chopra

Pooja Chopra with Her Mom Neera Chopra

Shubhra Mendonca, Pooja Chopra's older sister

Shubhra, Pantaloons Femina Miss India World Pooja Chopra’s elder sister, remembers their mother sleeping hungry, tying a dupatta around her stomach, after feeding her daughters. Now a mother to a daughter herself, she believes that girls are the best.

Shubhra Mendonca, Pooja Chopra's older sister, is playing with her daughter in her home in Mumbai. Her husband, Agnelo, a merchant naval officer, is away on the ship. "I’m so thrilled; I feel like I myself have achieved something," she chirps.
While Pooja Chopra was a baby who remembers nothing of her father's brutality towards her mother, Shubhra, who was seven when her mother walked out, remembers it all too clearly. "He used to hammer my mother... When I used to try to save her, he would burn out his cigarette on my hands." The reason she remembers, Shubhra says, is because she still has the burn scars.
"My father was a commander in the Indian Navy. Later, when we left, we heard that he had taken voluntary retirement and joined the Merchant Navy and was a captain there. At that point his salary was no less than a lakh of rupees — and I'm talking 20 years ago. I thought once, when I had come to the Taj in Mumbai for some training, that I glimpsed him somewhere, but I couldn't be sure and I put it out of my head."
Shubhra was in charge of Pooja Chopra's studies. She proudly says, “Her friends would be scared to come home when I was there because I was very particular about her studies. She was a brilliant child. She broke a 25-year-old record at St Thomas Academy — nobody had ever scored such high marks. In Mount Carmel, she was head girl."
Shubhra's childhood was not much fun, "While the other children played, I worked. I would wake up each morning and distribute newspapers.”
Now a mother to a girl child herself, she says, “I want to be the kind of mother my mother was to us. I remember her giving us all the food in the house — we never slept hungry — and tying a dupatta around her stomach. She would say 'my stomach is paining', but I knew."
Now a stay-at-home mom, with an adoring husband who says he is father to Pooja Chopra too, she says, "I want to give my daughter everything I never had in life and more."
"Today, because she is in this position, people are coming to know. But otherwise this is the suffering women go through. I can tell you today — girls are the best. Only a girl child can have the courage to stand up and have the determination to make her mother proud.