More than just beauty

Sumedha Sharma

“When children of my age would say that they wanted to be doctors and engineers I was always clear that I wanted to be the ‘voice of India’. From a very young age I would visualise myself standing on a stage with a tag bearing India’s name and addressing people as its delegate. Be it business conferences, debates or street plays, I jumped into them all. It was the search for such platforms that took me to the Miss India pageant. Though a different platform altogether, it is one place where you are heard even at 18,” said Gurgaon-based Aditi Arya, who has won the Miss India World-2015.

Working as a business analyst at Ernst and Young, Aditi, 20, studied at Sacred Heart School in Chandigarh till Class VIII and later at Amity International in Gurgaon. She graduated from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Delhi University. When she got a job at 20 the life seemed set for her. The job gave her everything but her childhood dream. Driven by this desire Aditi participated in the Miss India pageant.

“The moment I realised that these pageants are not just about beauty I was confident and it was my dream that took me through every level but yet the victory was a surprise. It was indeed the greatest moment of my life as my childhood dream came true. It took a while for the feeling to sink in,” she says.

Not ruling out her entry in Bollywood, Aditi says she is open to all kinds of opportunities. Her focus is on the Miss World pageant later this year. She is also doing her promised bit for the girl child.

“Haryana is notorious for its skewed sex-ratio. Even in urban areas like Gurgaon, a majority of Girls do not get support and struggle to achieve their dreams. My commitment towards the betterment of girl child was not just a competition answer, as I have been working for two NGOs prior to it as well. I request parents to let their girls explore their talent and so that daughters can make them proud. It’s not that you send her to top schools, ‘allow’ her to wear western clothes and go to parties and then allow her to be a doctor or engineer but just support to let her dream and chase these dreams is what is required,” says Aditi who claims that her parent’s support was vital for her success. According to her while majority of parents who are outside glamour world consider this world risky, her father was very supportive. Her mother constantly stood by her and always encouraged her to do well.