I should have been happy when I was crowned. Instead, I was being told that I 'looked like Miss India, Miss Israel, anything BUT Australia.'
I started posting beauty content on Instagram — and advocating for diversity in the beauty landscape in my posts. From there, I started to build a community, which made me think differently about purpose, service and impact. Ultimately, I began to question the"safe" route — especially after seeing Priya Serrao, an Indian-Australian lawyer, win Miss Universe Australia in 2019.
"The discussion often focused on my 'Australianness' […] From taunts to 'deport her' from the very country I was born and raised in, to observations that I 'looked like Miss India, Miss Israel, anything BUT Australia.'" Rather than hiding, I decided not to ignore that I was a woman of colour facing racism for being different from what people expected. I shone a light on it, built their criticisms into my campaign and used it as my 'why'.
I was only the third woman of colour to represent Australia at Miss Universe, but I won't be the last. And as I continue to grow, I will never forget the things that keep me grounded.
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