A girl from Haryana, Nishtha Dudeja, has won the Miss Deaf Asia 2018 title at an international pageant held in Prague, Czech Republic, recently. She has thus become the first Indian to clinch a title at the Miss Deaf World Pageant.
"I want to thank my parents for their consistent support who were always there to help me. Now I want to help the deprived people even at the cost of my comfort. I believe that the differently-abled people don't need pity. They only deserve equal opportunities to prove themselves," said Nishtha on Monday, Free Press Journal reported. She triumphed against from contestants from China, Thailand, Taiwan, Israel, Czech Republic, Belarus, Mexico, South Africa and several other countries.
Nishtha was born in Panipat. Deaf since birth, she takes the disability in her stride. She has won the title at the 18th edition of Miss and Mister Deaf World-Europe-Asia Beauty Pageant 2018.
Background
The 23-year-old is a commerce graduate from Venkateshwara College, Delhi University. Currently, she is pursuing MA in economics from Mithibai College, University of Mumbai.
However, the road to the Miss Deaf Asia title wasn't a smooth one. Before making her pitch for the world pageant, Nishtha had also won the Miss Deaf India title on February 26 this year in Jaipur. She is the brand ambassador for Sivantos India Pvt Ltd. (formerly Siemens hearing Instruments Pvt Ltd.), the world’s leading brand of hearing aids.
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The moment of glory
She recently took to Twitter and shared the proud moment of winning the crown with her followers, "What a moment! It was overwhelming. It's certainly something I will cherish forever! It was an amazing night. For d first time, India won any crown at Miss and Mister Deaf World pageant. I'm happy that I won dis crown for India."
"Thank you #INDIA! On winning #MissDeafAsia2018, I want to convey that the differently abled people don't need sympathy or pity. All they need are opportunities to prove themselves.
Jai Hind!," she further wrote.
The other side
A bright student since her school days, Nishtha on her mother's insistence, started learning judo at the age of seven. She participated in various tournaments up to the international level and won several medals. The beauty queen is also an accomplished tennis player. She has played many AITA, ITF and Asian tour tennis tournaments. Nishtha had also participated in Deaflympics 2013 (held in Sofia, Bulgaria), World Deaf Tennis Championship 2015 (held in Nottingham, UK) and Deaflympics 2017 (held in Samsun, Turkey).
She shared her journey of winning a first for the country:
Feature Image Credit: Zee News
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