As the year starts with the news of Indian music and movie Kantara making waves at the global stage, Miss Divita Rai brings more pride and cheer to Indians everywhere as she represents India at the prestigious Miss Universe pageant 2023.
The contest, which is in its 71st edition this year, will be held on January 14 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, US, with more than 80 delegates contending for the title. If Miss Diva Universe Divita Rai does win the title, she will be crowned by Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu, who took home the crown for India in December 2021. As she gears for a potential win at the contest, lets know more about India’s pride at the world stage.
Divita Rai , a model and architect by profession, is a native of Karnataka and was born in Mangalore. However, due to her father’s transferable employment, she has lived in many regions of the country. She completed her education at National Public School in Bangalore before enrolling in the Sir JJ College of Architecture in Mumbai.
Divita started her modeling journey with Femina Miss India 2019 as among the top three Karnataka finalists advancing to the final round. After that, she participated in Miss Diva 2021 where she came in second place to Harnaaz Sandhu. However, the crown didn’t elude her for long and at the Miss Diva Organization’s 10th anniversary event on August 22, 2022, Divita Rai was crowned Miss Diva Universe 2022 by outgoing titleholder Harnaaz Sandhu. Apart from the main title, she also took home the titles of Miss IQ, Miss Lifestyle, and Miss Sudoku.
Divita credits her upbringing for making her adaptable, switching six schools and traveling and living in several places during her childhood. She loves painting, listening to music, reading and enjoys sports including badminton and basketball. This also reflects in her life’s slogan which is to “embrace life, not fear change, and live each moment to the fullest.”.
Coming to her inspiration, Divita credits Miss Universe 1994 winner Sushmita Sen for “her strength, faith in her abilities, and kindness that she radiates.” Inspired by how education changed her father’s life, she wishes to make education available to everyone. She also cites the artist Frida Kahlo as an inspiration.
During the national costume round in Miss Universe, Ms. Rai donned a golden attire ‘Sone ki Chidiya’ which was designed by Abhishek Sharma. The ethereal dress portrays India as a golden bird as a symbol of not just material wealth but also its intangible spiritual riches of living in harmony with diversity.
The 2023 pageant is also notable for being led by a team of all-female executives for the first time. The Miss Universe pageant will start at 6:30 am IST on January 15 on Sunday or on Saturday, January 14 at 8 pm (EST). Indian viewers can watch the stream live on Voot, which is owned by VIACOM 18, or on the JKN18 channel’s official Facebook and YouTube pages. Outside of India, viewers can watch the live stream for free at 7 p.m. ET on the Roku Channel website or in Spanish at the same time on Telemundo.
Jay-Ho! The Jay Kumar Show wishes Divita the very best for the contest and hopes she brings back the crown once again to the country.
