Mumbai, Apr. 19 (PTI) Daughter of a farmer and a homemaker, Miss India World 2023 Nandini Gupta says she never let her background stand in the way of her childhood dream of competing in beauty pageants.

Gupta, 19, was declared the winner on Saturday night in Imphal, Manipur, where she beat off competition from 29 other contestants.

The newly crowned Miss India World said she lived a simple life in Kota, Rajasthan, before moving to Mumbai to study business management at Lala Lajpatrai College. In Mumbai, the former Miss Rajasthan started preparing for the Miss India World pageant along with her studies.

“My father is a farmer and my mother is a domestic worker and he also helps her. It’s not your background that matters, it’s who you become. No matter where you come from, life is a journey… That’s why I honed myself to make myself determined and ambitious,” he said in a PTI interview after his win.

Gupta recalls how former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was mesmerized by the movie “Devadas” as a child.

That was the beginning of her dream to win a beauty pageant, she credits her mother for encouraging her at the age of 10.

“The crown attracted me. After seeing it in the newspaper, ‘How can this be possible’, Amma watched ‘Devadas’ on DVD and was mesmerized by Aishwarya’s beauty and asked, ‘Who is she?’ So, I asked my mother. She said she is the world’s beauty. I was like, ‘How can you be like that?’ And when she told me about it, I wanted to be one,” Gupta said.

Over the years, Gupta said, she has seen the contribution of beauty queens to the society and how they excel in their careers. She hopes to use her popularity to create more job opportunities for women.

“Coming from a small town, I had big dreams and today people have opened their hearts to me… Miss India is not just a platform that brings you closer to your dreams, it also gives you a voice because people start following you,” she said.

Gupta added that he wanted to develop himself as an entrepreneur on the back of studying business management.

He credits his father for instilling in him the importance of education. She also shared that she was initially apprehensive about her interest in the glamor industry.

“He was interested in studies. The passion in me changed his mind as soon as he saw how I lived alone in Mumbai, how I coped, how I was studying and not going anywhere.

“After I was selected as Miss Rajasthan, her mood changed completely. I sense her insecurities about pursuing a career (in the glamor industry). So I took care not to upset him by not continuing the course. That’s why Gupta got emotional after seeing her father’s reaction after her Miss India win.

“After my victory, my mother did not cry, but my father hugged me and cried for the first time in my life. It was a proud (feeling) and (I saw) happy tears for the first time on his face.

“I remember how the crowd was excited, but I only saw my father standing up with tears streaming down his eyes,” he added.

Gupta will represent India at the 71st edition of the Miss World pageant to be held in the United Arab Emirates next year.

She believes in staying grounded despite her newfound fame.

“My parents have always taught me to be grounded. No matter how high you reach, you have to come back to your roots. I’m in touch with Ratan Tata, he’s a philanthropist, he has a million dollar empire, and he’s still grounded. I can be a business woman, Can be grounded like him,” he told PTI KKB PK PK