A 22-year-old Delhi girl, Nishtha Dudeja, has won the Miss Deaf India 2018 pageant. The event was held in Jaipur in February. All India Deaf Arts and Culture Society (AIDACS) in collaboration with Rajputana Deaf Arts and Culture Society (RDACS) organised the beauty-cum-fashion pageant. Dudeja participated in this pageant where both men and women took part to become Mister and Miss Deaf India.
Apart from the Miss Deaf India title, Dudeja also won the Best Hair Style title. She struck a chord with the audience by performing a Bhangra number and amazed the judges with her confidence and fashion choices.
“If I win the title of Miss Deaf India, my immediate goal will be to win Miss Deaf World for my country. I believe I can win it if I get enough practice. In long term, I want to work for public welfare,” - Nishtha Dudeja
The jury of judges asked her in the final round what would be her future goals after winning Miss Deaf India 2018. “If I win the title of Miss Deaf India, my immediate goal will be to win Miss Deaf World. I believe I can win it if I get enough practice. In long term, I want to work for public welfare,” she answered, which led her to victory.
Dudeja was born with profound hearing loss (100 per cent deafness). She is the only child to her proud parents. A lawn tennis player, Dudeja has studied commerce from Shri Venkateshwara College of Delhi University. As an athlete, she has represented Indian in international platforms like Deaflympics 2013 (held in Bulgaria), the World Deaf Tennis Championship 2015 (held in the UK), and the Deaflympics 2017 (held in Turkey).
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She wants to focus on uplifting differently-abled people and the underprivileged sections of society in future. Dudeja feels that if everyone gets equal opportunities, then differently-able people can also contribute in the progress of the society.
Recently in one of her posts about on Facebook, she praised her coach Rajeev Dhingra for never pitying her. She said, “You never pitied on me and you treated me at par with other normal players. I'm forever grateful to you for your devotion, dedication and commitment to make me a better sportsperson.”
Picture credit- India Today