Mrs. India 2015 goes International

Priyanka Khurana Goyal, Mrs India 2015 has truly had a remarkable journey. A Delhi University 1st Ranker during her Bachelors of Information Technology in 2004, Priyanka was determined to make a name for herself. Her next step, took her to the prestigious IIM Calcutta from where she completed her MBA in 2006 ranking 3rd in her batch.
Talking about her childhood, Priyanka says, “I was born and brought up in Delhi. I was a very sober child – very well organized and focused – I knew what I wanted to do and did it very diligently. I was so well organized that I look at my life now and wonder – ‘Wow! I was like that earlier!!’ I enjoyed Delhi life and still miss it– festivities, all cousins catching up, Diwali Melas, marriages – I loved the colourfulness of Delhi. People eat heartily, spend lavishly and do vanity display, which is interesting! And of course I miss the warmth of my parents’ care – food that was prepared for me and all efforts which my parents did to give me a comfortable childhood. I love them and miss them a lot at these thoughts!”

After graduation, Priyanka took up a job at one of the largest investment banks in the world, Nomura and has been regularly promoted to higher posts. Currently, she is the Vice President – Fixed Income Sales. Priyanka firmly believes that life after marriage has limitless opportunities.
Priyanka has a 2 year old son and enjoys motherhood with the challenges it brings. She considers children as our biggest teachers and says that they show us the way to live life the right way with much enthusiasm and courage with a lot of experimentation. She routinely follows yoga and meditation and believes that before we interact with the outside world, we should introspect the bigger meaning of life and our role in it. She feels that this helps her to take on many responsibilities with ease.
For a working woman, striking work life balance is key to her success. Priyanka’s take, “Given we are juggling so many responsibilities, it is imperative that we have priorities right. You will get conflicting demands on your time but if priorities are set right, decision making will be much faster and easier, e.g. if the child is ill and he absolutely needs you attention, work can take a backseat for a few days and let’s say if child just wants to be with you and there is an annual board meeting in office, baby can spend an evening with his grandparents.”

She adds, “If the decision making is fast because of the priorities being clear, conflicting situations take a much lesser toll on you mental health and you enjoy peace of mind and this is a rule I absolutely follow. I feel a lot of credit for my striking a balance in different aspects of my life goes to yoga and meditation. These things not only calm your mind but help you in managing conflicting priorities better. I advice ladies to keep aside sometime for themselves and practice meditation or any other relaxation technique that works for them. If you are happy and satisfied within, only then will you be able to fulfil your duties with great panache and ease in different spheres of your life.”
Priyanka loves to dance to Bollywood tunes and enjoys cooking. She even loves travelling to different places and adventure sports like snorkelling, sky diving, river rafting, etc. Priyanka wanted to encourage other married women in India to take up innovative work. Thus she participated in the prestigious Handicapped Children and Women’s Aid’s (HWCA) Mrs. India, Queen of Substance pageant. After successfully breezing through 7 qualifying rounds, Priyanka bagged the crown after beating 24 other contestants.
Being Mrs. India, Priyanka can help underprivileged and disenfranchised women in India by promoting different community services. Soon she will participate in the Mrs. Earth pageant in Jamaica.

Asked, what the future holds for her, she replies, “Interesting question. I keep thinking about this before important events in my life. But I feel that many a times life takes turns which we cannot always predict – IIM, marriage, job, childbirth, Mrs. India victory- all these events changed my life in more ways than I imagined prior to these. Now all my energies are focused on Mrs. Earth title and I hope I am able to do India proud. But on a serious note, I feel that because of the broad experience that I am getting in fields as diverse as investment banking, modelling and motherhood are actually making me a more balanced and understanding human being. These events give me perspective and teach me to be less judgmental. What is right in one world may be wrong in another and only if you look at any person or event with the right perspective, you are able to understand the other person better. So I feel the future holds a more learned, balanced, mature and understanding person in me!”
Many girls after participating in pageants like these are absorbed into Bollywood. Priyanka wants to take this one step at a time. She says, “Hmm… a few offers have come and it already came in some local media that I have signed on the dotted line but I am currently exploring the right roles! I am very blessed to be at the epitome of the investment banking industry in India and love every moment of it but if something good comes, will look at this for sure.”