Strela Thounaojam Luwang beat insurmountable odds to be where she is today. The youngster from Manipur was crowned the second runner-up at Miss India 2023 in her home state. While she has been modelling since her early teens, Strela has had to beat epilepsy to make her way to the top in the last few years.
In a chat with DNA, Strela recalled that she was stunned as she was announced as one of the winners on Sunday night. “It was the moment that our state was announced as the winner. I took a few moments to digest that my state was being called,” she says.
The 21-year-old suffered from a form of epilepsy caused by stress, which can be cured. “My epilepsy was induced by stress, depression, and anxiety, which is curable. That’s how I overcame it,” she shares, adding, “Epilepsy, for most part, is incurable. You have to carry it for your whole life, which is a very hard thing to do. It’s a hard thing to live with.”
Strela understands the magnitude of her win, both for herself and for people battling various forms of epilepsy. She has been elevated to a role model for them. “To everyone who is going through epilepsy, I have one message: I have been there, I have felt the pain you are feeling, the fear that you have, that feeling of loneliness. I know that feeling of downgrading yourself that you feel unworthy of anything. But you will find the courage to pull yourself up from that space. Your dreams will come true,” says Strela, speaking to all those like her who have faced epilepsy. She does have another bit of advice to everyone fighting the same battle she has. “As someone who has survived that period, I would advise everyone to seek medical help as early as possible because that is the greatest help that I had in recovering,” she adds.
Another way Strela’s win has been a landmark is that she is one of the few women from the North East to win a major pageant crown in India. Recognising the significance of that, Strela says, “As I always say, we are not sitting here to show everyone that we are beautiful. We are here to set an example that we had a dream and we worked for it. I come from a very small place in Manipur and getting to experience all this is an eye-opening moment not just for me but for all young girls out there who have this dream. I really gives them the courage to dream something.”
