Harnaaz Sandhu, new Miss Universe: “I want to inspire women and men alike”

India Harnaaz Sandhu, crowned this Sunday as the new Miss Universe, expressed her desire to be a source of inspiration for “women and men alike” and defended beauty pageants as a source of “empowerment”.

This was the election of Harnaaz Sandhu from India as Miss Universe 2021

“This contest is about embracing and empower women around the world, but I think I would like to inspire women and men alike in society, because everything in the world is in pairs, “Sandhu said in an interview with Efe at his hotel in the Israeli city of Eilat, hours after winning the contest.

Wearing a pink dress, an entourage of makeup artists by her side, without having slept and with the diamond crown shining on her head, the 21-year-old spoke of her feelings after the victory, the responsibility that implies being the new miss universe and the message it intends to spread over the next year.

Although she was very grateful and honored for having obtained the first place, she acknowledged being “Surpassed” and highlighted his desire to return home to La India and reunited with her family, who, due to the restrictions due to the coronavirus, could not accompany her during the more than two weeks that she spent in Israel, where the contest took place.

“I am excited to start my journey with the Miss Universe organization and, above all, to be able to start speaking in support of the empowering women and menstrual hygiene”, She said, referring to the role model that her mother, a gynecologist, represents for her.

Another message that Sandhu will seek to convey is that of respect for social distancing restrictions and measures to face the pandemic of coronavirus, something he referred to last night, when he defended the mandatory vaccination and that he reiterated today when celebrating the strong restrictions imposed by the Israeli Government and urging “to take the necessary measures, since it is the only way to process the new normal.”

This young Indian woman, 1.76 meters tall and dedicated to the performance, is considered a source of inspiration for today’s youth and cited not only the achievement in Israel as the fruit of his effort, but also how he overcame the bullying who suffered in adolescence due to his low weight.

“In the end, the only perception that really matters is your own, and we should accept that because we all have a purpose, we are unique and that is what makes us beautiful, “he said.

Consulted by the example that contests like this and the body figure of the participants represents for the rest of the women of the world, Sandhu reiterated that the important thing is not what is seen and the perception of others, but their own.

After rejecting the criticism of feminist movements against the contest, urged everyone to “love yourself, believe in yourself and show yourself as you are, with your beliefs and opinions.” “That is enough to understand that each one deserves to be the leader of his own life,” he added.

The winner defended that the contest participants have to parade in a bathing suit. “You should ask all those who marched last night and those who marched in previous editions how comfortable and powerful they feel wearing a bathing suit because it is all in the mind, not in what one wears, but in how one thinks about what one wears ”, He declared.

At the ceremony for the 70th edition of the Miss Universe, held at dawn on Monday, December 13 in Israel while in the American continent it was still Sunday 12, Sandhu competed for the crown in the last stage of the contest with Miss Sudáfrica, Lalena Mzayne, who was second runner-up; Y Miss Paraguay, Nadia Ferreira, first runner-up.

The three left out Valeria Ayos, from Colombia; and Beatrice Luigi Gomez; of Philippines, with whom they had placed in the Top 5 of the night. Regarding the Top 10, the candidates of Puerto Rico, Michelle Marie Colón; U.S, Elle Smith; Bahamas, Chantel O’Brian; France, Clémence Botino; y Aruba, Thessaly Zimmerman.