The year 2000 was considered the golden year for the Indian beauty queens at the world pageant stage. All the three Miss India winners; Lara Dutta, Miss India 2000; Priyanka Chopra, Miss India 2000 first runner-up and
Dia Mirza, Miss India 2000 second runner-up won the most prestigious international titles the same year.
Miss India 2000 second runner-up Dia Mirza represented India at Miss Asia Pacific pageant and ended up getting the third crown to India that year. This year she completes 20 years of her win. Miss India' is one of the most coveted titles. Thousands of young, beautiful women try their fortune to become Miss India but only one is lucky enough to bag it.
Dia Mirza is an actor, producer, UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador & United Nations Secretary-General Advocate for Sustainable Development Goals. She is one of the finest examples in a long line of models who took the leap from fashion magazine cover girl and advertisements to the big screen starlet in India. Dia has never played by anyone’s rules.
Dia feels nostalgic, “This is surreal, looking 20 years back; I was so young when I won the Miss India title. Before that, I used to work part-time at multimedia company as a marketing executive. While doing the job, I was spotted by a model coordinator and she insisted to give modelling a shot. In between, I did some modelling projects and then, I was approached by The
Times of India, Hyderabad, for the Miss India contest after I did a feature for Bangalore Times in 1999, portraying the woman of the millennium. They asked me to audition. They liked me and that’s how I ended up in the Miss India contest in 2000,” she says.
When I got this opportunity, I didn’t want to disrespect it, so I participated in the contest looking forward to growing and learn something new because I don’t come from a background of competition. I come from a unique school, where we didn’t have competition like other schools. On events like sports day we used to get “Laddoo” (sweets) and not a medal, it was a token of appreciation for everyone who participated, she adds.
When asked what was your life like after you won the title?
She exclaims, “Life changed dramatically, opportunities presented themselves, and we were compelled to learn how to work with teams, cultivate self-awareness and be able to perform and deliver in high pressure situation. We were taught everything from how to do our hair, makeup, how to groom ourselves, and be authentic.”
Commenting on the same, “I swear... It continues it doesn’t stop” she adds. I look back at everything I’ve done in my life and continue to aspire or hope to do and I discover that it is a constant journey of self-discovery, realizing, finding your purpose, it’s just a constant endeavor to find balance.
To know more, watch 'Dia Mirza In Conversation With Sachin Kumbhar' below:
