Harnaaz Sandhu is the Miss Universe, 21 years after Lara Dutta won the title in 2000 of India. Ms. Sandhu represented India at the 70th Miss Universe event held in Eilat, Israel. The 21-year-old from Punjab gets the crown from South Africa’s Lalela Mswane and Paraguay’s Nadia Ferreira.
Ms. Sandhu was presented the crown by Andrea Meza, former Miss Universe from Mexico. Before Ms. Sandhu, only two Indian women have won the title of Miss Universe – the first title won by Sushmita Sen in 1994 and the second Lara Dutta in 2000.
One question asked what advice she would give to young women on how to deal with the compressions they face; an answer Ms. Sandhu said, “The major pressure the youth of today is facing is to trust in themselves, to know that you are inimitable and that’s what makes you gorgeous. So stop equating yourselves with others, and let’s talk about more key things that are happening globally.”
“This is what you need to know. Come out, speak for yourselves since you are the leader of your life; you are the speech of your own. So I supposed in myself, and that’s why I am stand-up here today,” Ms. Sandhu said with assurance.
Ms. Sandhu, who is ongoing her voyage in pageantry at the age of 17, has formerly been crowned Miss Diva 2021, Femina Miss India Punjab 2019, and positioned in the Top tewel at Femina Miss India 2019.
She has also worked in Punjabi movies including as “Yaara Diyan Poo Baran” and “Bai Ji Kuttange.” The pageant included cultural displays of national clothes, evening gowns, and bikinis, and a series of conference questions to test contestants’ public speaking skills.
The contest also writhed a last-minute hitch with the arrival of the omicron variant, which involuntary Israel to close its limits to foreign tourists late last month. Last year’s pageant was late due to the pandemic before Meza was capped in May for her shortened tenure.
U.S. TV personality Steve Harvey held Sunday’s contest. Organizers said the pageant reached an estimated 600 million spectators via the FOX network in 172 countries.