The land of the brave and the free will also be free of the mandatory swimsuit segment! In the headline-hitting news, the next edition of the Miss America pageant will scrap swimsuits and supposedly become more inclusive to women of all sizes.

Officials revealed that they will no longer judge candidates on their outward physical appearance. Instead, contestants will take part in a live interactive session with the judges, during which they will highlight their achievements and goals in life and how they will use their talents, passion, and ambition to perform the job of Miss America.

While we are trying to admire the sentiment behind this decision, one cannot help wonder what the place of ‘achievements’ and ‘life goals’ has to play in judging beauty! America, which led from the front when it came to all things bold and beautiful, has suddenly decided to trump their own idea of awarding beauty. However, it does tend to smack of a sense of self-righteousness. Will they ever crown a high-achieving contestant who might be over-filling a capacious kaftan - we can’t wait to find out.

Like it or not, the swimsuit has played a key role in beauty pageants across the world. Even critics will agree that it is among the most exciting and awaited rounds of a beauty contest. In India, the swimsuit round has been something of an awakening for even the more traditional sorts.

It did not, in any way, diminish the dignity of the gorgeous Reita Faria, who was the first Asian woman to have won the title of Miss World in 1966. Perfectly poised in her glamorous swimsuit with the crown perched firmly on her head, this doctor-in-the-making went on to shine on the international stage, as she well deserved to.

Bollywood derived it's first inspiration from Faria's win when in the successive year, 1967, Sharmila Tagore beacme the first Indian actress to wear a bikini in the movie ‘An evening in Paris’. She also posed for the cover photo of a popular magazine wearing a sexy two-piece, opening the gates for Bollywood and Beauty Pageant queens wearing swimsuit with utmost ease!

Zeenat Aman, who became the first Indian and South Asian woman to be crowned Miss Asia Pacific in 1970, showed the world that the stereotype of the coy Indian beauty was a thing of the past. Beautiful and confident even through the tough swimsuit round, Zeenat symbolised the modern Indian woman who was well ahead of her times.

Come 1984, the chirpy Juhi Chawla brought acclaim to India on the global platform, winning Best Costume at the pageant. She also raised eyebrows back home for the flair with which she carried herself in the swimsuit round, doing full credit to herself.

Whether Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai in 1994, Diana Hayden in 1997, Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra in 2000, or Manushi Chillar in 2017, our beauties have showed- off their poise, the presence of mind and perfect proportions on the international stage and emergvictorious. Far from being a stumbling block, the swimsuit round has inspired women to pay as much attention to the physical as to the intellectual aspects of a pageant. Surely this can only be a good thing!

Almost all our international beauty pageant winners have forged successful careers in Hindi films over the years. The discipline and grace built up via gruelling rounds stands them in good stead in the far more challenging contest called life. No, we will keep our swimsuit round, thank you very much. Bikinis and brains are not mutually exclusive!