Miss World Manushi Chhillar brought back the coveted crown to India in 2017 after Priyanka Chopra won the title back in 2000. We caught up with the 21-year-old medical student from Haryana a year after she won the pageant to find out how her experience has been.
To us, her lifestyle might have looked all fun and glamorous as we travel the world and meet the most amazing people but Manushi tell us of a side we were unaware of. She shares the challenges she went through in the last year after winning the crown.
“The first thing was to adapt to this whole new lifestyle and this whole tag of everyone knowing you. I am a very private person and I enjoy a lot of me-time and I don't like to always be photographed.”
Initially, I was like, I don’t like everyone knowing me, everyone knowing everything about me. I want to keep secrets to myself.Manushi Chhillar, Miss World 2017
“But ultimately I think with time, what my parents told me was that it's something that’s going to be there with you, you can't fight it, so you might as well enjoy it,” she says.
Another challenge for this Miss World was travel.
As much as fun it looks, when we are travelling, we are not vacationing. We are actually working. So that’s tough because the moment you step out of the plane, there is media and you just start working from there.Manushi Chhillar
In the end, what got her through bad days and embarrassing moments was her ability to laugh it off. Of course, there was much to be grateful about her journey. Before she signed off, Manushi also shared highlights from last year that she will never forget.
Edit: Veeru Krishan Mohan
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