MUMBAI: It is one of most coveted crowns in the country, but this year, the Miss India contest had not one, but three winners, organizers said, with all three finalists being treated on par with each other.
"Unlike the previous years, we decided that all three finalists, who represent the country in different international pageants after bagging the titles, were all winners. That is why we decided to name three winners," pageant director Manish Suri told reporters here. Setting the confusion aside, he said, "Sarah Jane Dias will represent the country in the Miss World contest while Puja Gupta will go to the Miss Universe contest. Pooja Chitgopekar will participate in the Miss Earth pageant.
All are contests of international standards and therefore all three girls are winners. There is no one winner." All three winners said they were well aware of the rules of the contest this time around and happy with the format.
At a glittering ceremony, Sarah was crowned Miss India World, while Gupta and Chitgopekar were conferred Miss India Universe and Miss India Earth titles respectively. "I always wanted to do this, ever since I was five years old and this year I had an inkling that it was the right time to enter.
That instinct proved right," the 24-year-old Sarah said. In the past, the winner of the Miss India Universe title was declared the winner of the pageant while the Miss India World was the runner up.
DUBAI: For ‘Miss India World’, Sarah-Jane Dias, winning the title was one of her childhood dreams, her proud father said. Sarah’s father, Eustace Dias, a marketing manager with an oil company in Muscat, said that though initially he was not aware of the news, he had always expected his daughter, a former video jockey, to be in the top three if not the winner.
The 24-year old beauty queen, who won the coveted pageant yesterday beating 24 other contestants, did her schooling in Muscat. "I always supported all her activities and this is certainly one of her childhood dreams," Dias said. "I expect Sarah to be in Oman in a month’s time, before getting involved with her future assignments," he said, adding that she had always missed the country. Similar sentiments were expressed by Sarah’s sister Ellen-Rose Dias.
"I am proud of Sarah’s achievements as this is her childhood dream." Sarah had always taken keen interest in theatre and music and participated in competitions, she said, adding that she did not intend to follow her sister’s footsteps, the ‘Times of Oman’ newspaper reported. The new Miss India World, also a former Miss India-Oman (1997), did her schooling up to class X at Indian School, Wadi Al Kabir and the remaining two years at Indian School, Muscat.
Print
Tell friend
Top
