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