Grand comeback for Roshanara since she was six, beauty pageants
Since she was six, beauty pageants and striking poses have been second nature for ROSHANARA EBRAHIM. At 26, she has been crowned Miss World Kenya already, and now she flirts with the possibility of Miss Universe Kenya after a short hiatus, as JACKSON ONYANGO writes.
ROSHANARA @Onyango_Jack
In 2016, at just 22 years, Roshanara Ebrahim achieved what most young girls who possess neck-breaking beauty can only dream of. She was crowned Miss World Kenya 2016.
But it came at a price. A series of controversies including her then boyfriend, Frank Zahlten leaked her nudes to the public leading to her Miss Kenya title being stripped by former Miss Kenya organiser Ashleys Kenya.
Frank would then be forced to pay her $10,000 (Sh1m) after the High Court ruled in her favour, concluding that non-consensual circulation of intimate images was a gross human rights issue, and that it breached the right to one’s privacy under Article 31 (c) of the Kenya Constitution.
The University of Nairobi law graduate, supermodel, and media personality would keep her head above water and join a local TV station as a co-host to Sera Ndanu in the The Skin Therapy show.
Still it wasn’t a walk in the park. “That period of my life was filled with cruelty that led to many tears. I truly had lost everything that meant anything to me,”she admits.
She is currently temporarily based in Vancouver City, Canada relishing “a creative time” and is “really excited”.
“I don’t believe in the concept of permanent. Who knows what the future holds? I miss Africa, but we must find happiness where we are than imagine it is somewhere else.
It has taken all these travelling around to realise that home is where the heart is,” Roshanara shares.
Globe-trotting, drama-free, securing the bag, career-driven, and a new found sense of self as she immerses herself in deep meditation and yoga practices is how she is winging it.
Things came full circle for her when she was commissioned to strut for high-end luxury South African brand Maxhosa in the New York Fashion Week in August, 2019.
“It was a total vibe! I couldn’t have imagined a better manifestation of my dreams.
Gracing the runway with Oluchi, Young Paris, Miss Universe – Zozitunzi and Demi Leigh, Atandwa Kani from Black Panther, Aminat from America’s Next Model and other superstars was such a gorgeous experience. The show was the cherry on top of a magical journey,” she revisits.
During the Covid-19 social distancing period, she is taking time to reflect, introspect, doing art, gardening, cooking, singing, and just catching up with her genuine posse.
On her journey she has had to offset a lot to get here.“I’ve had to sacrifice the fear based expectations that I had for myself and others had for me. I had to realign my thought patterns and belief systems.
Letting go of everything and everyone I cared for to go and create a new life for myself, I’m just grateful for the strength to pull through and surrender to the flow. It was a leap of faith and I’m glad I did it,” she discloses.
On marriage, she says the time will come. “I haven’t met my life partner yet, I’m still aligning myself to the me of my dreams.
We will meet when we are both aligned and ready, it will be perfect,” she discloses.
About her goals, she is definitely enterprising and a go-getter as she is in the infant stages of penning her first book and launch her business, Jade Rituals, a company that deals in exclusive Nephrite Jade products from British Columbia.
She is proud that she is a certified hypnosis practitioner and regression therapist trained by Dolores Cannon.
“Modelling will always be my passion, though the industry has taken a hit with quarantine measures. I’m excited about what happens after we implement the new normal,” she says.
