Close to 35 years ago, a young beautiful and ambitious girl took courage in her slender, delicate hands to participate in an event deemed taboo in her country. What followed was not only a sensation but a tale that saw incredible twists in the denouements that defined her life.
How does one explain the transition from a glamorous winner of a beauty contest to take up Kundalini Yoga, or to give up a budding career in Hollywood and choose to be a consultant and a teacher?
The unusual life of Maria Kalinina presents a fascinating story as remarkable for the turn of circumstances, and as noteworthy for the grit with which she countenanced situations and events as different as chalk and cheese.
USSR in 1988
The year was 1988. USSR was still intact, its disintegration yet a few years away. The rumblings of discontent were there but the structure and semblance of a Union was yet firmly in place. Fissures had begun to appear on an otherwise solid and stolid façade with occasional but ominous forebodings. But the Comrades were deeply entrenched and the communism remained the toast of political fashion.
Actually, the winds of change has begun to blow as soon as Gorbachov became the Party Secretary General, the youngest in the history of USSR- the man who introduced Perestroika. Since 1985 when he became Secretary General, a number of changes were allowed. His appointment ushered in a new era of social freedom for the citizens of the USSR – including the removal of the ban on beauty pageants.
Beauty pageants (a revelry associated with Western culture, particularly America) were banned in the Soviet Union since 1959 – no scantily clad ladies, no cheeky fashion, no celebration of beauty and poise.
To participate in a beauty contest at that time to a large extent meant to go against the still-prevailing public opinion that only indecent and disgraceful girls took part; girls who did not mind being seen by millions of TV viewers in swimming costumes marching on stage, girls whose moral values were well below public standards; girls who were more associated with prostitutes than beauty queens.
But the die was cast. The Beauty pageant till then seen as a feature of Western decadence, aroused both the interest and passion of the young and old alike in Russia.
Event That broke the Ceiling
On June 12, 1988 an unprecedented and hugely talked about event-the first Beauty Contest in Moscow was held. ‘Moscow Beauty 1988’ was held in the Luzhniki Palace of Sports in Soviet Moscow and became a real sensation across the globe. The contest was sponsored by the up-market German fashion magazine Burda Moden, whose owner and editor Mrs. Burda was an honourable member of the jury.
History was in the making. True to the reigning dogma, the contest was made open to everyone. In a society where everyone was – officially – considered equal, there were no entry restrictions and anyone could take part, regardless of size, shape, or age. Even mature schoolgirls tried their luck. What made Moscow capitulate is not known. Possibly a long suppressed collective yearning to witness, appreciate and admire beauty, in no less measure shared by the elite in the authority set the tone.
Just Sixteen and in School
She was just sixteen years and nine months old, beautiful and bold, and enterprising with an irrepressible passion and zest for life. Tall (she was 6 feet), lissom and extremely agile, Maria Kalinina threw her hat in the ring. She was then only a grown up student in a Moscow school.
Her decision to participate in the contest was to change her life for ever.
By all accounts, she was not only able to charm the judges with her youth and beauty but was also able to create an unprecedented sensation all around. The fabulous prize that she collected as a winner of the first ever beauty contest in Russia, was a Television Set.
Photographed, filmed and fêted as the latest Russian celebrity, she was signed up by a modelling agency and then worked on assignments across Europe.
Two years later she moved to the United States, attended drama school, then began to appear in commercials and films.
In 2006, Maria played a vampire in the Hollywood horror movie, Stay Alive, but the on-screen violence and torture sickened her, causing her to change her lifestyle, taking up Yoga and becoming a vegetarian.
Yoga-The New Passion
Her interest in Yoga had evolved over years. Part of this interest, while arguably, inhered in her natural inclination for such esoteric pursuits; her brief and rather unusual experience in Hollywood, sources assert, may also have strengthened her passion. Kundalini yoga is a form of yoga that involves chanting, singing, breathing exercises, and repetitive poses. Its purpose is to activate Kundalini energy, or Shakti. Essentially a Hindu concept, Kundalini is a form of divine feminine energy believed to be located at the base of the spine, in the Muladhara. It is an important concept in Śhaiva Tantra, where it is believed to be a force or power associated with the divine feminine or the formless aspect of the Goddess.
A Life of Her Choosing
What made her give up a career in films, whether a genuine call of the heart or a shrewd calculation of her less than bright prospects in Hollywood, she never revealed. But it’s a far cry from the day she created history and her brief but involved tryst with the films.
The winner of the first Beauty Pageant in Russia, the bold and beautiful Maria continues to be an international celebrity. She lives in Marina del Rey, California. She is a business woman, an opinion maker and a spiritual coach who teaches yoga and employs kundalini yoga to deal with the personal and career issues of her students. Her classes known for their humour and levity demonstrate an uncommon and deep understanding of human psyche. She is 51.
And her predilection for a station in life such as the one she feels privileged to pursue, reinforces the bold and different persona she embodies.
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