“I am ecstatic and on top of the world,” Nicole Faria told Indian newspaper DNA minutes after being crowned Miss Earth.
Faria, who has been in the modeling business since 2005, is accustomed to applause from wide-eyed audiences while on the catwalk at the Lakme Fashion Week, Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, and Colombo Fashion Week and when she poses for Elle, Cosmopolitan, or Vogue.
But even she was touched when she beat 83 other contestants from around the world to seize the coveted title and become the first Indian to be crowned Miss Earth.
The 20-year-old woman from Bangalore also won the Miss Talent event after performing a scintillating belly dance combining Oriental and Middle Eastern styles. She wore a shimmering white and gold outfit and defeated 17 other finalists.
“I’m being compared with Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen [Indian beauty pageant winners]. It is a really big responsibility. I know I’m entering the big league. It is something that I am eagerly looking forward to.
“The spotlight’s already on me,” she said with joy.
Faria, a former student of Mount Carmel College, has some green plans in mind already.
“I am very keen on taking on initiatives to ensure the green patches do not just remain but are multiplied. As for Bangalore, I want to start an agency with cycle rickshaws. They will not just reduce pollution but also support many families.” DNA quoted her.
She not only outshone all in the beauty sections, but also proved that beauty is a combination of brains and elegance.
In the question-and-answer round where she was asked “What time of the day do you prefer - sunrise or sunset?” she said: “Sunrise. Because each time I wake up to a new day, it feels like a new beginning to me with renewed hope.”
It was a winning answer, one that clicked with the jury and audience.
“Everyone clapped for this answer for a long time and I can still feel and hear the resounding applause in my mind.”
Her father Ian said proudly: "We are ecstatic and overjoyed although we expected it."
I know I can
Faria's success has come as no surprise to her family who are well acquainted with her winning ways and her belief in the adage "I know I can."
"We knew she would win. We were hardly surprised," Faria's uncle George Pearson told the Times of India.
Nicole has turned out to be the best advertisement for her parents, father Ian Faria, a motivational speaker and corporate trainer, and mother Anita, who works with the reputed beauty group VLCC.
"She owes a large part of her success to her father, who has always motivated her to win. It was he who taught her how to talk, how to walk. He groomed her to be a winner," George said, adding that Nicole's motivational lessons began when she was young and so did the grooming.
Speaking to Thanh Nien, she said she does not have a boyfriend but prefers someone with a strong mind and body to face challenges and troubles together.
“Vietnam and its people’s hospitality have attracted me a lot. I love the ao dai, your country’s traditional costume”.
Next year she assumes the role of the world’s environmental ambassador.
Followings are some of her images:
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