DU's Nishtha Dudeja becomes Miss India Deaf 2018

12.04.2018

Fear kills more dreams than failure ever will. - Suzy Kassem

Many of us don't follow our dreams and settle for what life offer us fearing failure of being unsuccessful.

But Nishtha Dudeja, didn't settle for less. She was born deaf and while most of us term it as being handicapped and think of it as destiny, Nishtha chose to take her fate in her own hands.

The 22-year-old Delhi resident is a commerce graduate from Venketeshwar College, Delhi University. While the beautiful Manushi Chillar made the country proud by winning Miss World, there has not been any buzz about Miss India deaf, Nishtha Dudeja who won the title on February 26, 2018 in Jaipur.

The three day pageant from February 24 to February 26 was organised by Rajputana Deaf Arts and Culture Society (RDACS) in collaboration with All India Deaf Arts and Culture Society (AIDACS).

When asked what will she do if she won the pageant, she replied, "If I win the title of Miss Deaf India, my immediate goal will be to win Miss Deaf World for my country which I believe I can win if I get enough practice. In the long term, I want to work for public welfare."

That's not it, she has also represented India in lawn tennis during the Deaflympics 2013 (held in Bulgaria), the World Deaf Tennis Championship 2015 (held in the UK), and the Deaflympics 2017 (held in Turkey).

She gives the entire credit of her success to her father who has always been her strength. "She is very stubborn with her dreams. It was very difficult to teach her speech as she was deaf right from the beginning, we went through speech therapy for seven years. Her speech is still not clear but she is working on it. She left tennis and everything else to prepare for the pageant, spent days and nights learning ramp walk, make up and dance," Nishtha's father, VD Dudeja told AmarUjala.

You are truly a hero, Nishtha!