'Dubai lets me be rebellious', says mum of two entering Miss Universe India Pageant

Dubai: Let’s face it — most people don’t expect a mother of two teenagers, aged 14 and 17, from Dubai to enter the Miss Universe India pageant and shake up the status quo.

But that’s exactly why UAE-based Tasneem Raza is impossible to ignore. The statuesque and towering PR professional-turned-model,42, is not here to smile politely or recite rehearsed lines about world peace.

She's entering the main Miss Universe India competition — not a “Mrs.” or special category — but the real deal, as a UAE-based contestant of Indian origin.

In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, she tell us that she’s here to reclaim her space, challenge old-school beauty norms, and serve up a reminder that motherhood isn’t a full stop — it’s just the second act.

“Just because I have kids doesn’t mean I disappear ... I’ve spent years raising my family — now it’s time to raise the bar.”

And raise it she has — with confidence and purpose, from the UAE, a place that helped shape her ambitions.

Plus, thanks to recent rule changes by the Miss Universe organisation in 2023, married women and mothers are now eligible to compete — a shift that makes Tasneem’s entry all the more timely.

The Dubai edge

Unlike the typical contestant raised in India's tightly knit pageant ecosystem, Tasneem enters from left field — or more accurately, from the Emirates Hills–meets–after-school-drop-off reality of Dubai.

“Dubai gave me the space to be both traditional and rebellious,” she says. “You’re raised with culture, with expectations — but also ambition, movement, and this fire to make something of yourself.”

It’s a city that doesn't ask for permission. It thrives on reinvention. Whether you're a stay-at-home mum launching a start-up in your living room or entering a global beauty pageant while packing school lunches, Dubai doesn't blink. It cheers.

“You’re surrounded by ambition here,” Tasneem adds. “You feel it in the air. That energy fuels me.”

This isn’t a woman trying to prove she’s still relevant. She’s never stopped being relevant — she’s just changing the narrative.

Mums who reclaim the mirror

We all know the script. Motherhood is beautiful, rewarding, sacred — and somehow, code for “fade to the background.” Not in Tasneem’s world.

“I had to ask myself: am I done?” she says. “Do I just play the support role for the rest of my life? And the answer was a very clear no. I still have dreams, and I’m allowed to chase them.”

She talks about parenting like a boss — literally.

“Being a mum made me more resilient, more intuitive, and ten times more efficient,” she says. “I don’t waste time — I know who I am.”

Yes, she’s managing school runs and PTA WhatsApp groups. But she’s also fitting in media training, photo shoots, and Q&A drills between kids' sports day and curfews.

Keeping it real

For someone walking headfirst into the glitz of a beauty pageant, Tasneem is refreshingly pragmatic about the nature of beauty contest. While many feel it can reduce women to how they look, she believes knowing your worth is what makes it all worth it.

"You can flip the script," says Tasneem.

And flip it she does — with sass and side-eye. Even when she’s “winging it,” she doesn’t flinch. “Sometimes I forget. I look through what I’m doing,” she laughs. “But I’ve never been blank.”

In an industry addicted to polish, Tasneem is serving personality. She's not trying to be a mannequin — she's a message.

When women say no to the crown

Ask her about Rachel Gupta — the Indian contestant who famously declined a crown on principle — and Tasneem lights up.

“I love her,” she says. “I think she’s very brave to have done what she did. A lot of courage to say no to a crown. She just… pushed back. And I liked that.”

That kind of quiet rebellion resonates deeply with Tasneem. It’s not just about winning; it’s about why you’re even in the room.

Calling it like it is

Of course, she’s not averse to a little side-eye when it’s warranted. When a certain Miss England contestant stirred controversy, Tasneem didn’t blink.

“I had a problem with what she said,” she says without skipping a beat. “I thought she was a bit racist. Absolutely.”

No diplomatic fence-sitting. No media-trained backpedals. She calls it like it is — and in today’s hyper-filtered world, that’s its own kind of pageant revolution.

“It’s not just about standing on a stage in heels,” she says. “It’s about what you stand for when the lights are off.”

Playing the game — on her terms

Yes, she’s well aware that the pageant world has rules — sponsors to charm, politics to navigate, and the dreaded unwritten playbook.

“You play the game, but you play it smart,” she says. “I’m not here to impress. I’m here to understand the space I’m stepping into.”

Not the next Sushmita Sen — just the first Tasneem

We joke about how she’s giving “Sushmita Sen 2.0” vibes — bold, brainy, elegant, and wildly articulate. But Tasneem shrugs that off.

“I’m not trying to be the next anyone,” she says. “I’m just trying to be the boldest version of myself ... But I love and deeply admire Sushmita Sen! She's such an inspiration."

Just like Sen, whose mother lives in Dubai and shuttles to this City often, the UAE has helped her grow.

“I carry Dubai with me,” she says. “The hustle, the multiculturalism, the ambition — it’s all in me.”

Dubai, she adds, raised her to be unafraid of reinvention. And she’s doing it now — not quietly, not apologetically, but with rhinestone-encrusted heels firmly on the ground.

So, will she take the crown? Maybe. Maybe not. But that’s hardly the point.

“I’ve already won the minute I decided to enter,” she says. “Because this isn’t just about a crown. It’s about saying to every woman who feels invisible — you’re allowed to dream again.”