Crowning glory

Rohtak, home to Manushi Chhillar’s maternal grandparents, is on a sugar high ever since she was crowned Miss World 2017. “Relatives, friends and mediapersons keep coming in, and we have been celebrating with sweets,” says her grandmother Savitri Sehrawat, offering us a box of sweets.

Though Manushi looked a tad surprised when she was declared the winner at the November 18 ceremony in Sanya, China, her uncle Sandeep Sehrawat says she was quite confident of bringing home the title. “Three days before the announcement of the result, she sent a picture of herself posing next to a car and wrote that she will be back home with this car and the title,” he says.

The confidence came with ample preparation though—the 21-year-old had been preparing for the title since the age of 16. “She was very conscious about how she looked and what she ate,” recalls her grandfather Chander Singh Sehrawat. “She would often ask her grandmother if she was beautiful and whether she was eating right to keep her skin flawless.” Though she always had an eye for fashion and style and carried herself with poise, he says the family never thought she was serious about beauty pageants.

One can’t blame them as Manushi, following in her parents’ footsteps, was studying medicine at the Bhagat Phool Singh Government Medical College for Women in Sonepat. Her father, Dr Mitra Basu Chhillar, is a scientist at the Defence Research and Development Organization and her mother, Dr Neelam Chhillar, heads the neurochemistry department at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences. Manushi, who wants to be a cardiac surgeon, is taking a break from studies to fulfil her title commitments. She has an elder sister, who is pursuing her master’s in law, and a younger brother, who is in class 9.

On top of the world: Manushi Chhillar being crowned Miss World by last year’s winner Stephanie Del Valle from Puerto Rico | AP

The family first moved to Bengaluru from Rohtak in 1999, owing to her father’s posting. In 2004, they shifted to Delhi, where Manushi did her schooling at St Thomas School. Her grandfather says she was hardworking since her schooldays. In class 12, she topped in English, and also did well in her medical entrance exams. “She was very focused in whatever she did,” he says. If not studying, she would keep herself busy by doing things on her own. “She was a quiet child, but not a shy one,” he says.

Manushi learnt the art of keeping busy from her mother, who introduced her daughters to painting. “She got them colours. They were asked to paint while she was away at work, so as to keep them busy. However, Manushi developed an interest in painting and without any formal training, she started practising it as a hobby and continues it till date,” says her grandmother, pointing at Manushi’s first painting that has the pride of place at the Rohtak house.

Manushi was also trained in martial arts—at seven, she won a prize in the sub-junior category in the state championship. She also learnt Kuchipudi for a while from legendary dancer Radha Reddy. As a teen, Manushi was drawn to poetry—“most of her poems are about her mother, whom she considers her mentor,” says Smriti Khasa, her college friend and roommate. Manushi, says Smriti, is a very organised person. “She keeps her room spic and span, and also keeps every pair of her footwear in a separate polythene bag,” she says.

It has been a year of titles for Manushi, starting with the ‘Miss Bombshell’ title she won at the freshers’ party in her college. Her belly dance performance at the event won her rave reviews. “She told us that she is not a trained belly dancer, and that she learnt the form by watching online videos,” says her batchmate Varsha Dhaka. Last December, she bagged the ‘Miss Campus Princess’ title. In April, she was crowned Miss Haryana, followed by the ‘Femina Miss India’ title in June. But, the crowns come with sacrifices. “She stuck to healthy food and even sacrificed her favourite motichoor laddu,” says Varsha.

Manushi’s professors are all praise, too. “When she told us that she would be participating in a beauty contest, I was sceptical about how she will manage studies along with her training,” says Dr Manjeet Singh, associate professor, department of physiology, and deputy dean at the medical college. “But, she proved with her performance at college and at the Miss World that she is a true example of brains with beauty. She inspires me to work hard.”