A 23-year-old Indian-origin doctor, Bhasha Mukherjee, 23, was recently crowned Miss England. Fluent in five languages and with two different medical degrees, she boasts of an IQ of 146 — officially a 'genius'. Born in India, Mukherjee's family relocated to the UK when she was nine and she is now heading to Miss World in December this year. Excerpts from an interview with WION.
A medical degree holder to a beauty pageant winner, how was the journey?
It was an amazing feeling. I am a believer in God as there is a saying in Hindi 'Uparwala jab deta hai, chappar phaad ke deta hai' (When God gives, he gives in one go). That's how I felt in that moment. I graduated on July 19 with my medical degree and it was all close together. My graduation, my job and also Miss England. I am just very grateful.
How did the idea of going to such platform come to you?
I have been modeling for seven years now, and in the field, I met a lot of people who are also connected with the pageant. Personally, I did not have a very good experience with the beauty pageants, and it took a lot convincing from the director of Miss Asian Face, a sister pageant of Miss England. She really took a whole year to convincing me to do this pageant and to go to such a platform, as we are an ethnic minority in this country. A lot of south Asian women do not feel confident to participate. This pageant was to increase the diversity of the likes of Miss England and I am very proud of the fact that I had won that. It shows that it is such a multicultural society. I got so much love from all the Indians who are living abroad and from all over the globe.
What kind of response did you get from Indian and global diaspora?
It is a matter of pride for me to represent this country. However, what absolutely blew my mind was the support and good wishes that I was getting from Indians and South Asians from all over the globe. I think that shows how much my winning had become a pride factor for the Indians. I, as an Indian am very proud that I am representing two nationalities and that is a win for two nationalities.
One message you would give to young women?
I would tell them that it is very important to dream because if we don't have the inception to dream, then there is no chance for the dream to ever come true.
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