Grasp every opportunity that comes your way

[Applause]

what if i told you

that the best way to take control of

your life was to lose control over it

there comes a point in every person’s

life where they are presented with a

moment

that could potentially transform their

life

and change its course forever not so

long ago

my life was presented with one such

sliding door moment

it was right in front of me this new

life

the door was wide open and all i had to

do was walk through it

but the minute i did so the minute i

walked through that door

the door would slide shut behind me

let me take you back a little bit while

growing up

i was a shy curious child and i loved

asking questions

within the confines of my head i wanted

to know what it would feel like to

somersault into a freezing pool

what it was like to drive a car even

before i could learn to ride a bike

what everybody around me was reading or

listening to

as i grew up i learned to manage my

shyness by

placing myself in a tightly knit world

of friends activities

and actions ensuring that i was never in

an unfamiliar environment

helped me build that confidence to speak

up more

but it still meant that many

opportunities were missed

and every time i found myself in a high

stakes situation

i chose to pass i chose the comfort of

following

a well-laid out car very much in line

with my parents wishes

the path was safe the path was logical

and it was beautiful in its own little

way

i think you have to understand that it

was filled with everything that i liked

and wanted

i balanced arts academics went on to

study my computer science engineering

and then worked at a financial software

firm

the familiarity of my world was my safe

human

it helped me form deep meaningful

relationships it helped me

excel academically and over time

i became a more confident speaker and

less uncomfortable with attention

but i wasn’t as happy because this

comfort was

constantly in conflict with my inner

child

my curiosity it was in conflict with my

inner desire to break away from

expectations and

change that feeling to grow help and

learn

this conflict brought with it several

moments of confusion

and anxiety parts of which i

still face today but whenever i find

myself confused i love talking to the

universe i love putting out questions

for the world to hear

sometimes i get a reply and sometimes i

don’t

but whenever the universe does give a

reply she can give a good surprise

every once in a while this surprise

comes to you in the form of an

important decision you must take a

sliding door moment

where you can see that on the other side

of this glass like something incredible

but you don’t know how to get there or

whether you live and successfully

make it at this point you just have to

decide whether you want to walk through

this door

because when you do you are walking away

from a life that is completely different

from the one that you’re walking into

i think that in life everything that you

do

every action that you take every

decision that you make

leads you to one monumental movement and

in my case

it was miss india because on one side i

had my

safe perfectly secure private life

filled with friends and familiarity

and on the other side it was the exact

opposite with the immensely

public unfamiliar larger than life miss

india

miss india to me meant lifting myself

out of my little neighborhood in

hyderabad

and exposing myself to opportunities i

could have only dreamt

of pursuing it meant going beyond the

person that i am

beyond my job my routine and my loved

ones

how do you choose between a life that

you love and the one that you’ve just

glimpsed

this life i glimpsed on the other side

it stood for creativity

responsibility and freedom it

represented not just a crown

but growth opportunity and new ways to

achieve things

and so it wasn’t difficult to decide

that i would make this my mission

what was difficult instead was the work

that followed after

the courage i needed to build in order

to embark on this mission

the courage needed to convince my

conservative family that this is what i

wanted to do with my life the courage

needed to make my awkward self

feel comfortable in front of a camera

and millions of strangers

i believe the best way to build your

courage is by putting yourself in

uncomfortable situations

whether it’s pushing yourself to be on

stage lifting that heavy weight in the

gym

confronting your bully or even asking

your crush out on that date

i think every situation helps you grow

and it’s a series of uncomfortable

situations that helped

me grow and the more courage that i

found the more

dedicated that i became to my mission

so much so that i turned into a mad

passionate woman

at least in my family’s eyes because i

would spend hours together

practicing in front of a mirror

practicing walking

tackling all these imaginary scenarios

in my head

and exploring my purpose at the end of

the day we all pick our battles

and looking back i feel like this was

the most important battle that i picked

what’s interesting about sliding doors

is that you can never truly tell what

lies on the other side

it’s about taking the chance

irrespective of the outcome

for better or for worse either you take

that scholarship in a different country

or you don’t either you become a miss

india

or you don’t either you walk through

that sliding door

or you don’t and everything will still

be fine

now that i’ve made it through the

sliding door and as i work towards miss

world i consider it my responsibility as

a miss india

and as a human being to extend

my freedom my opportunities and all my

learnings to as many people as possible

in a nutshell life comes in these

unannounced sliding door moments

which can set you on the path to new

experiences and relationships

either you choose to lean in and get

curious

or you walk away you decide