Before Harnaaz Sandhu, take a look at other Indian Miss Universe titleholders

In the year 1994, Sushmita Sen made history as she became the first Indian woman to win the ‘Miss Universe’ title held in the Philippines. The bong beauty instantly brought India into the world limelight when she was just 18-years-old.

Sushmita Sen's answer in the final round won the hearts of not just the judges but millions of other people as well and won the title.

In the final interview round, she was asked, “What for you is the essence of being a woman?” To which, the young lady replied and secured her the Miss Universe title and her place in millions of hearts. She answered, "Just being a woman is a gift of God that all of us must appreciate. The origin of a child is a mother, who is a woman. She shows a man what caring, sharing and loving is all about. That’s the essence of being a woman."

Lara Dutta brought home the title of Miss Universe in 2000 and was the second Indian to win the title after Sushmita Sen. Dutta was previously crowned as Miss Intercontinental in 1997. Apart from winning the title, Dutta also created history by scoring the highest marks in the history of the Miss Universe pageant.

She achieved the highest score in the swimsuit competition and her finalist interview score was the highest individual score in any category in the history of the Miss Universe contest, as her interview saw a majority of the judges giving her the maximum 9.99 marks.

Lara Dutta has continued to wow us with her grace over the years and the same poise and elegance, she maintained back then, when she became a beauty queen. During the final question and answer round, she was asked a typical ‘pageant question’ about the protest that was carried out against the pageant in Cyprus back then. 

The question was, "Right now, there is a protest that has been staged outside the stadium posing pageants as an affront to women. Convince them that they are wrong".

To which Dutta replied, ''Pageants like Miss Universe gives us young women a platform to foray into the fields that we want to and forge ahead, be it entrepreneurship, be it the armed forces, be it politics. It gives us a platform to voice our choices and opinions, and makes us strong and independent that we are today.''

India's Harnaaz Sandhu made the entire country proud as she won the 70th Miss Universe 2021 title at the grand finale held in Eilat, Israel. The 21-year-old Sandhu from Chandigarh, India, brought home the crown after 21 years of break. 

In the last round, Harnaaz Sandhu and other finalists were asked - "What advice would you give to young women watching on how to deal with the pressures they face today?"

To this she replied, saying, "The biggest pressure the youth of today is facing, is to believe in themselves. To know that you are unique makes you beautiful. Stop comparing yourselves with others and let's talk about more important things that are happening worldwide. Come out, speak for yourself, because you are the leader of your life. You are the voice of your own. I believed in myself and that is why I am standing here today."