Parul Quitola Shah is an Indian-Filipino model and beauty pageant titleholder. She represented her province of Pangasinan and was crowned Binibining Pilipinas Tourism 2014. She also represented the Philippines at the Miss Grand International 2015, where she placed 3rd runner-up.
The Best Friends’ Duo:
Filipino beauty queens Maggie Wilson-Consunji (Filipino British) and Parul Shah (Filipino-Indian) won the Amazing Race Asia Season 5 that ran across 12 cities in six countries.
The best friends and former beauty queens are the second team from the Philippines to win the race. Richard Herrera and Richard Hardin won the race in 2010.
Parul’s Secular Belief:
When asked in the Pageant that “Who is the most influential person in your life?”, Parul undoubtedly answered that his father, an Indian national had a great influence on her thinking. She further asserted that she believed that peace started at home. Furthermore, she was born to a Christian Filipina mother and an Indian, Hindu father in a Muslim dominated country, UAE.
Likewise, she believes that we can co-exist together when there is understanding, when there is no power struggle, when no one tries to beat one another.
This, she added, she learned from her father who taught her that with humility and respect, peace can be ultimately achieved.
Thus, we see our Manila Indian community growing and flourishing in the fields of beauty, sports and the like. Truly, Filipinos and Indians share similar beliefs of adaptibility and secularism.
