"My Family Expected A Boy But Celebrated My Birth As Victory": Miss India World Nikita Porwal

Femina Miss India World 2024 winner Nikita Porwal says she grew up in a traditional family where her parents were unfamiliar with concepts like feminism and women empowerment, but their actions embodied these values.

Ms Porwal, who grew up in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain, was crowned the winner at the beauty pageant last week. She will now represent the country at the 72nd edition of the Miss World contest in 2025.

From celebrating her birth to the care shown by male family members when she would be on her period, the actor-model said she was brought up with a lot of love.

"I come from a very humble and simple family of Ujjain. My parents were not well-aware of the modern terms which we often use like feminism, women empowerment and justice but I have always seen that they made sure that they practised that with me," she told PTI in an interview.

Ms Porwal, who has an elder brother and sister, said when her mother was pregnant with her, everyone in the family "expected it to be a boy".

"It is easier with two boys in a family rather than two girls. But when I was born, to everyone's surprise, my father, my uncle, my grandfather celebrated it like a victory, which they didn't during my brother's birth," she said.

When she started menstruating, Ms Porwal said while she was not supposed to enter the kitchen, her grandfather would serve her food himself.

"My grandfather would feed me. My father would massage my feet when I would return from school, and my brother always fought with me but he was very considerate during those days...  I was brought up with love in my family and it has made me a person who believes that love is something which can balance everything. Even if the rituals and values do not get along with each other, love can equalise everything," she said.

Ms Porwal said her parents were always supportive.

"Today, I have the title. I remember when I was nothing, they were proud of the person who I was and they still are. I always wanted to pay it back to them in some way because being from a simple city like Ujjain, it's not easy to let your kids go to Mumbai to pursue their dreams. "They stayed there, listening to people saying things like 'What is she doing?' or 'She should have chosen a different career.' They have been like a pillar of support for me," she said.

Ms Porwal, who did her schooling from Ujjain's Carmel Convent Senior Secondary School and graduated from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, said she was also happy to have represented her home state at the coveted pageant.

"I wanted to hear the name Madhya Pradesh because my state has never had a Femina Miss India in the past 60 years. This was the first time someone from Ujjain has ever participated in Miss India," she added.

Ms Porwal said she draws inspiration from former pageant holder and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and called her a "beauty with a purpose." 

"All of the women who have represented India, including Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, have been great inspirational figures but the one who inspires me the most is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan," she said. 

"She has shown how to keep that desi-ness and rootedness alive... I love the fact that despite having had so much exposure to modernity, she never lets her real roots die," she added.

Her Miss India title win marks the beginning of a new journey for Ms Porwal, who said it's a huge responsibility to represent India on the international stage.

"India is not just a country or name. It has diverse meanings and it (its idea) is different for every individual. It is different for me as well and so I want to represent my idea of India," she said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)