The year 1994 is celebrated for a number of reasons, one of them being that it's in this very year Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (then Aishwarya Rai) were crowned as Miss Universe and Miss World respectively. While Indian beauties had previously won the Miss World pageant, it was the first time that the country had brought the Miss Universe crown home and that makes Sushmita's victory all the more special. As Sush celebrates 24 years of being crowned as Miss Universe, here's looking back to where it all began...
Both Aishwarya and Sushmita were participants at the Miss India pageant held at Goa back in January 16, 1994. Aish was already a known name in the fashion and modelling world in comparison to Sush. While Aish was quite a favourite of the media and the mentors as well, Sush was more of an underdog. Many were certain that it was Aishwarya who will be crowned as Miss India 1994. Nobody had expected that Sushmita Sen will be the one to beat Aish and emerge victorious in the finale.
So how did Sushmita manage to achieve this feat? Well, it was during the intelligence or the personality question and answer round, that the tables turned. Both Sushmita and Aishwarya were locked in a tie and it was their answers during the tie-breaker round that Sushmita managed to beat Aish to win the title (no offences meant).
During the tie breaker round, Aishwarya was asked, "If you have to look for qualities in a husband, would you look for the qualities in Ridge Forrester from The Bold & Beautiful or in Mason Capwell from Santa Barbara?"
Aishwarya picked Mason and replied, "Mason. They do have a lot in common, but from what we see, Mason has a very caring side to him, and a terrific sense of humour. And that really gels with my character."
On the other hand, Sushmita was asked, "What do you know about the textile heritage of your country? How old has it been and what do you prefer to wear personally?"
Sushmita's answer was, "I think it all started with Mahatma Gandhi's khadi. It has gone a long way since then, but the basics of Indian textile heritage has been from there." That was the answer that made Sushmita beat Aishwarya by a mere 0.2 percent.
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Both the ladies went on to represent India at Miss Universe and Miss World pageants and both the crowns came home that year!
