The Royal Wedding Was an Incredible Experience: Suhani Jalota

Suhani Jalota tells us why she wore a saree and not a dress and hat to Prince Harry & Meghan Markle’s royal wedding.

Suhani and her team wore sarees to the royal wedding (L); Prince Harry and Meghan after their wedding (R)

(Photo altered by The Quint)

From Mumbai’s Govandi to UK’s Windsor castle- the last one month has been an extremely memorable one for Suhani Jalota and her team of women from Myna Mahila Foundation. After being invited by Meghan Markle for the royal wedding, Suhani and three other members of the NGO attended Prince Harry and Meghan’s nuptials.

“The whole town of Windsor had converted. Harry and Meghan was the theme of the month. There were people camping on the streets wearing Harry and Meghan masks. There were people skateboarding wearing these masks. There were parades and parades of people walking and wearing all kinds of crowns and tiaras. It was such a spirited town and everyone was chanting their names. We felt so incredible to be a part of this.”

Suhani Jalota, Founder of Myna Mahila Foundation

Suhani and her team members outside the Windsor Castle before the wedding.

Suhani and her team’s decision to wear sarees made them stand out at the event where most women wore dresses and hats. “When we saw the dress code, it was a day dress with a hat and we were envisioning ourselves in that and it just didn’t seem right. So, it was an exciting opportunity for us to wear something that represented India in a clear way. We all wore sarees of our choices that represented our personalities. There weren’t many other people wearing their national attire. I think it was only the princess of Lesotho and us”, said Suhani.

While attending the royal wedding of the year sounds exciting to most people, for Archana, this experience was even more special. It was her first time outside India, first time on a flight and the first time she wore a saree.

“I found out a week before departure that it was confirmed that I would be going. I had a passport but was unsure about getting Visa. My visa was approved 2-3 days before going. I was going outside India for the first time & boarding a flight for the first time too. It was my dream to sit on a flight. Now that has come true.”     

Archana Ambre, sales Manager at Myna Mahila Foundation

Archana waits at the wedding venue.

The Myna Mahila Foundation team sightseeing in London.

Prince Harry and Meghan’s decision to endorse Myna Mahila Foundation, the only non UK based organisation, to receive donations instead of gifts for the couple, came as a blessing to the Govandi based NGO. Suhani’s team has been working to educate women about menstrual hygiene in Mumbai’s slums.

“We are just seeing the incredible support from people, organisations and individuals to collaborate with us. To fund us, volunteer with us, work with us and now we have understood to a certain extent what this all means and this means a great deal to us. Our website clicks have increased to a hundred-fold. We have incredible people contacting us from all over the world.”

Suhani Jalota, Founder of Myna Mahila Foundation

While earlier the team reached out to about 10,000 women every month and educated them about menstrual hygiene, armed with more funds, the team is now planning to increase the number of women to 25,000.