Divita Rai: The architect who contested Miss India pageant twice to be on Miss Universe platform

(October 9, 2022) Miss India Universe Divita Rai will have to wait a little longer to represent India on the Miss Universe platform. The annual global event which was scheduled to be held later this year has been shifted to January 14, 2023. It would be the 71st pageant in the world of Miss Universe to crown the winner of 2022 at New Orleans, Louisiana. Participants from 90 countries would be competing for the coveted crown that would be passed over by Harnaaz Sandhu of India, the current title-holder whose reign has been extended. 

Divita Rai, Miss Diva 2022 will be representing India in next Miss Universe pageant

While every Indian is waiting for India to script history by two back-to-back wins, the pressure is high on Divita. To meet the expectations, and slay more when the days of wait have been prolonged, is something that she seems to have taken in her stride.   

If she wins, India would be the second country to win back-to-back crowns, after Venezuela.

Pressure is good. To have people who have expectations from me gives me excitement to bring out the best version of me. More than the pressure, I view it as an incredible opportunity to represent my country. How many of us get such an opportunity!

Divita said in a joint interview with Harnaaz Sandhu, the reigning Miss Universe who made India proud last year by bringing home the crown after a gap of 21 years.

Divita after being crowned Miss Diva by reigning Miss Universe, Harnaaz Sandhu

The win would make Divita the fourth Indian beauty to get the title home, after Sushmita Sen (1994), Lara Dutta (2000) and Harnaaz Sandhu (2021). 

Decision to give second shot despite second-runner up crown paid off 

Divita evokes hope because of her attitude to win. The Miss Diva pageant in which she was chosen to represent India in the Miss Universe competition was not her first rodeo. She had participated in the contest last year too and was placed third to Harnaaz Sandhu. Instead of basking in the glory of being the second runner up, she chose to push herself harder, and eventually the Global Indian got successful in claiming the Miss India crown, finally earning her chance to represent the country in the global platform of Miss Universe.  

Grand welcome of Divita when she visited Mangalore after winning Miss Diva title

Serious about issues that plague society  

Born in Mangalore, Divita moved to several cities across India due to her father’s job requirements. She soaked in valuable lessons of life learned from people from diverse backgrounds and cultures from a very young age, turning into a versatile and sensitive human being.  

On the occasion of Dusshera 2022, Divita associated herself with child rights and visited a CRY centre at the heart of Asia’s second largest slum in Mumbai. She believes that her education has taken her far and is determined to work towards making quality education accessible to kids and motivate them to keep learning. Her concern for education of underprivileged kids comes from a very personal experience as her father had to overcome immense financial difficulties to complete his education.   

Divita at the CRY event on the day of Dusshera

Other than education, the second significant issue close to Divita’s heart is women at work. In fact, she has been so passionate about the issue that as part of her final year thesis, as a student of Architecture she had chosen to research workplace culture for women. Deeply believing how imperative it is for merit to shine irrespective of gender or circumstances, her story is of gathering courage to come back well prepared, and rise above the fear of failure to achieve one’s goal. 

A little background… 

Until 2010, the top three contestants at the Miss India or Femina Miss India were crowned as Femina Miss India-Universe, Femina Miss India-World, and Femina Miss India-Asia Pacific (which was later renamed as Femina Miss Earth).   

However, in 2010, a new contest, ‘I Am She – Miss Universe India’ was introduced to separately select India’s representatives to Miss Universe. Later, in 2013, due to a change in the acquiring rights, the contest got renamed as Miss Diva.   

The making of the diva   

Divita attributes the title of ‘Miss Diva’, which she proudly holds, to her mother and grandmother. While growing up, her mom and grandma would dress her up as Miss India on several occasions, instilling a belief that she could be Miss India.  As she grew up, the youngster realised that it is something that she would really like to pursue. 

Navigating her way through the modelling industry and the world of pageantry was quite easy as she had found a support system in her family.

Little Divita with her grandma

She said in an interview:

Although my parents grew up with restricted dreams of what to pursue as a profession. My brother and I had the freedom to choose whatever we wanted to, but we were told to ensure that we put our soul and heart to manifest that into reality.   

The Karnataka girl who now lives in Mumbai, pursued modelling and architecture from Sir JJ College of Architecture in Mumbai simultaneously. 

PCOS cannot stop girls from reaching great heights   

September happens to be the PCOS awareness month, dedicated to enhance education and advocacy of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) – a hormonal disorder that affects one in five girls in India. Globally, 1.55 million women of reproductive age experience PCOS.   

Divita has gone all out on several platforms opening up about her battle with PCOS, stating:

It’s okay for women to go through this condition but it’s important for them to talk about it.

She often finds its challenging to maintain a good lifestyle to prevent the health condition from aggravating. As girls undergo several bodily changes and mental health issues related to it, Divita stands tall as an example that one can achieve milestones despite odds. 

From the Miss India’s history of international victories:  

• Reita Faria was the first Miss India ever to win any international beauty pageant. She was crowned Miss World 1966 in London. She became the first Miss World from not just India but from entire Asia.
• Sushmita Sen is the country’s first Miss Universe winner in 1994.  
• India’s appearances at the semi-finals of Miss Universe from 1992 to 2002 made it the first country of the Eastern Hemisphere to contest annually at the pageant for at least 10 consecutive years.  
• In 2010, Nicole Faria became the first Indian to win the Miss Earth pageant.  
• Six years after Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai‘s double wins in 1994 as Miss Universe and Miss World respectively, Lara Dutta and Priyanka Chopra repeated the feat in 2000. Though some countries have had dual wins like these previously but since the year 2000 of India’s dual win, no country has won Miss Universe and Miss World in the same year.  

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