Miss World 2019, one of the biggest beauty pageant around the globe was held in London yesterday. With over 120 countries participating in the competition, this year’s Miss India Suman Rao managed to make it to the top three.
While Toni Ann-Singh from Jamaica was crowned as Miss World 2019, Ophely Menzino from France and Suman Rao from India were the first and the second runner up, respectively.
I want to be the voice of gender equality. I come from a community where girls go through quite a lot due to inequality, and that also regarding some of the very basic choices. I want to create awareness among them because freedom is about equal opportunity.
Along with her flourishing modeling career, the 21-year-old pageant holder is currently pursuing Chartered Accountancy from the University of Mumbai.
One of the reasons for Rao’s qualification in the top 10 was her vision for the segment “Beauty With A Purpose”. Her project was called “Project Pragati”. In this, she took an initiative to help the dreams of women in the tribal community seeking financial independence.
She empowered the tribal women by procuring machines that would help them kick-start their own livelihood by making handcrafted soaps, shampoos and gels, she also trained them to make handloom and decorative accessories. Her project was supported by Princess Diya Kumari Foundation.
Looks like Project Pragati inspired her answers for the final round as well. She beautifully explained the root cause of gender inequality around the world and said that it had a lot to do with conditioning. She further added:
When it comes to gender discrimination, in any part of the world, the root cause is a mentality that needs to be changed. Once the mind is in the right direction, it reflects on society.
While Miss Nigeria and Miss Brazil were also contending in the Top 5, along with the winners, it is was Suman Rao’s witty answers that set her apart and earned her a spot in the top three.
Suman Rao is also the first Indian to be crowned as the second runner-up in Miss World’s history. Not only that, she also won the Continental Queen Of Asia Award and will be traveling across the world with Toni-Ann-Singh as a part of her Beauty With A Purpose project.