New Delhi: A springhtly girl from Chandigarh who looked a winner from the start has walked away with the Bombay Dyeing Gladrags Mrs India award for 2008 which concluded recently in Mumbai. Celebrity judges John Abraham, Malaika Arora Khan, Mahima Choudhary, Shabana Azmi and Maureen Wadia, president of Gladrags Beauty Pageants quizzed finalists at what was a glamourous grand finale of India’s only pageant for married women.

Madhavi Awasthi from Chandigarh is the new Gladrags Mrs. India 2008 and Tanu Singh from Rajasthan and Mrs. Yukti Mehendrita from Delhi the first and second runners up respectively.

The winners will be on their way to represent India against 75 countries at the Mrs. Globe contest in Las Vegas, California and the Mrs. Universe pageant in Bulgaria.

The final event tested the contestant’s confidence, grit, style and intelligence. Clad in colourful, beautifully sequined bridal wear, sarees, ghagras, casual wear and even Bombay Dyeing bedsheets they were put through a rigorous schedule.

The contest which has seen an increase in the number of participants from all over India, had an eclectic mix of working women, business women and housewives. The finalists were from Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad, Rajasthan, Lucknow, Kanpur, Delhi, Chandigarh, Haryana, United States of America and the United Kingdom.

Maureen Wadia, president, Gladrags Beauty Pageants commented, “Seven years in the running, the contest has today managed to create a brand name and what gives us a good feeling is that from here on, our winners, usually end up making a substantive mark in the world of modelling, films and entertaintment.”