From Harnaaz Sandhu to Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta, here’s the answers that led them to the Miss Universe historic win

On Sunday, Harnaaz Sandhu won the Miss Universe pageant title, leading to the third time that an Indian has brought the crown home. The 21-year-old model from Chandigarh is successor to Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta who had won the title earlier. In a ceremony at Universe Dome in Eilat, Israel on Sunday, Harnaaz was announced the winner of the pageant.

In an Instagram post shared by the official handle of Miss Universe, the moment of the historic win was perfectly captured as the announcement was made that the new Miss Universe is India. In the video, an emotional Harnaaz can be seen being crowned by Miss Universe 2020 Andrea Meza of Mexico.

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But what led to Harnaaz getting the crown? Well, it was most certainly her crisp and appropriate answer to the question in the final round. She and the other finalists were asked – ” What advice would you give to young women watching on how to deal with the pressures they face today?” To this she replied, saying, ” The biggest pressure the youth of today is facing, is to believe in themselves. To know that you are unique makes you beautiful. Stop comparing yourselves with others and let’s talk about more important things that are happening worldwide. Come out, speak for yourself, because you are the leader of your life. You are the voice of your own. I believed in myself and that is why I am standing here today.”

It has always been the last question and answers that had led to the historic win of the other Indian Miss Universe – Lara Dutta and Sushmita Sen. Sushmita Sen was the first Indian to bring home the title of Miss Universe in 1994. In the final round, the actor was asked – ” What for you is the essence of being a woman?” She replied saying, “Just being a woman is a gift of God that all of us must appreciate. The origin of a child is a mother, who is a woman. She shows a man what caring, sharing and loving is all about. That’s the essence of being a woman.”

Lara Dutta brought home the title of Miss Universe in 2000. It was that time when protests erupted calling the beauty pageant as a way of objectifying women. Lara, in the final round was asked to convince the protesters that they are wrong. Lara replied saying – “I think pageants like the Miss Universe pageant gives us young women a platform to foray in the fields that we want to and forge ahead, be it entrepreneurship, be it the armed force, be it politics. It gives us a platform to voice our choices and opinions and makes us strong, independent that we are today.”

Harnaaz brought the title home after a long wait of 21 years.

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