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Meet Miss Immigrant Manpreet Kaur – a New Yorker

Miss Immigrant and her Maltipoo Find Fame & Fortune in New York

Yes, we have a Miss World, a Miss Universe, a Miss America, a Miss India – so why not a Miss Immigrant?
Well, I found that title does exist and appropriately enough right in the Immigrant Capital of the World – New York! Manpreet Kaur is a lovely Indian immigrant from Delhi who came to America when she was a small child. She could not speak much English and learned it as a second language, became a medical student and is now also a contestant for The Miss Immigrant title in the pageant coming up in October.

“I was about five years old when I came to America,” she says. “ I mean, my English was not perfect. I still had to struggle to learn a little bit of English. I did have a great background since I was in school there, but when I came to America, I was in ESL English as a Second Language classes. And then from there, I perfected my English and you know, I put my heart and soul into learning and adapting to the new culture. At home we still speak Hindi and Punjabi with my parents. In school and college, I picked up Spanish and just adapted to the unified community in America.”

So how did Manpreet’s American Dream take shape? Strangely enough through her Maltipoo Penny who had actually become dog-famous – and the two actually share an Instagram account, Pennyluxelife. Penny, who is cuteness on overload, is actually a dog model for New York Fashion Week and has modeled for Anthony Rubio, the pet couturier. “A lot of his clothes are popular in India too because of the cultural design – some of them resemble saris and suits,” says Manpreet.

It seems like any struggling New Yorker with dreams, Penny also went through the whole audition cycle. “Anthony Rubio was actually doing a casting call. I didn’t think Penny was going to make it at that time. I thought my dog is just a baby – she doesn’t have any experience and then I sent them pictures of her. And you know, I used to do small, small things on Instagram with her, and then they selected her and her career just took off from there.”
So Manpreet was thrust into the limelight with Penny as she had to walk the ramp with her and both were gaining fame in their own way. In New York everything is possible even if you were a five-year-old from Delhi who couldn’t speak much English!

 

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A post shared by Penny 🐶 & Preety Kaur💃🏻 | NYC PHL (@pennyluxelife)

Penny’s career also keeps her busy as the dog has modeled for one of the biggest sneaker companies in New York and she’s involved in getting her advertisements for different items as well as auditions for TV acting too. The Maltipoo is as talented as her owner who says, “She’s a therapy dog now too, you know. Anytime there are victims of abuse, I actually take my dog to these people, so that they can feel calm and then give their testimony about how they were hurt.”

Both of Manpreet’s parents are immigrants and ran their own small business in Pennsylvania. Recalls Manpreet, “My mom also helped dad with the business and took care of us growing up. One of the things she wanted to make sure was that there was no lacking in our upbringing, and I truly appreciate all of the sacrifices that they made for me to be able to have these wonderful opportunities for education and activities in America.”

Manpreet did her basic medical education in the Caribbean and her hospital rotations in different hospitals in Brooklyn. Throughout the pandemic she worked at pharmacies and hospitals in the area. Currently she also coaches medical students on preparing for their physical exams. And in a way, things have come full circle for the little immigrant girl who couldn’t speak much English. On her days off she has taught English to Spanish speaking immigrants: “They didn’t have their English perfected, so I would teach them English, and I would teach them about the American culture and help them prepare for their citizenship test.”

 

So in the course of her adventures with Penny in New York Fashion Week, she came across the Miss Immigrant pageant and decided to participate in it. It was founded by a Polish immigrant Magdalena Kulisz who has run it for two years as a virtual event during the pandemic and will be having a live event for the first time. She is the Volunteer Director of Miss Immigrant USA (www.missimmigrantusa.com).  She says: “Miss Immigrant strives to educate and empower you to be a leader in your field and to lead with honesty, integrity and trust.”

Says Manpreet, “I liked what they were doing – making immigrants feel proud when they come to America and helping with inclusion and diversity. And it’s not just Indians – there’s Hispanics, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Nigerian, Polish – every country you can think of. I think unifying everyone together and making them feel proud to be who they are in America is a great, great goal and I wanted to be a part of it. And that’s just how I got involved.”

So right now, Manpreet is one of the Miss immigrant USA contestants. “They don’t do specific states or cities. They unify it as one and then there’s just one winner at the end. Normally you think of a competition as people competing against one another but what’s unique about this group –  to all the girls who are participating, this feels like a sisterhood. I got to meet some amazing women who are from different countries, and it feels like we’re sisters. And that’s what’s nice about this – We’re not actually competing, we’re working together for this goal.”

Indeed, unlike other pageants, there are no swimsuit rounds or emphasis on beauty. As a contestant, Manpreet notes, “ A lot of beauty is on the inside and that’s what needs to get recognized as well. So this pattern doesn’t focus on what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside. I know a lot of times people don’t like to participate in pageants because of the swimsuit component. So this is very nice to help preserve modesty. You don’t have to look a certain way. You don’t have to have a certain figure. It’s all about what you can bring as a person to the table.”

In the past several hundred contestants have participated in the virtual events. In this first live event, there will be an emphasis on community activities such as inclusion of disabled members of the community in the audience, by engaging people in wheelchairs who don’t usually have much access to the action. The winner in October will participate in Brooklyn Fashion Week.

So what does Miss Immigrant feel about the role of immigrants and the part they play in American life? “I truly feel that immigrants make up this country,” says Manpreet Kaur. “Everyone in America is an immigrant because if you look back at history, the Native Americans were the first ones here and everyone else is an immigrant. So I think that when you work together, support each other, that’s what makes America the place that people want to be.”

The Interview 

 

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