Deaf Girls Varsha And Saritha Make India Proud at Miss Deaf International
India has won the title of Miss Asia 2022 for the second time, thanks to Varsha Dongre from Indore who has been crowned as Miss Deaf Asia 2022.
It’s hard being a woman in India. But being a woman with a disability is even tougher. But two women have overcome all her barriers and secured a great achievement in 2022. Miss and Mister Deaf International (MMDI) 2022, beauty pageant was held from 23rd to 31st October in Tanzania, Africa. Ms. Bonita Ann Leek is the President of this organisation.
During this event, there were various sub-competitions with participants from more than 15 countries who were participating in the competitions.
1) Miss Deaf International
2) Miss Deaf Continent
3) Ms. Deaf International
From India, Deaf woman, Varsha Dongre stood 3rd (2nd Runner -up) in the Miss Deaf International. She also won 1st place in the Miss Deaf Asia 2022 crown.
She is the second in the country to ever bring home this title. The first girl to win the Miss Deaf Asia in 2018 at Taiwan,was Deshna Jain. Now, lets talk about Varsha. She hails from Indore and is a student of Indore’s Deaf Bilingual Academy who also has several awards & achievements to her name. She belongs to a Deaf family - Parents, younger sister and herself are Deaf. Varsha had also competed in the 2021 StarLife Pageants India modelling competition with hearing contestants and came first!
Interacting with the media through an interpreter, Varsha shared her experiences and stories.
‘The international competition was different and a bit sad, too. The discrimination between black and white was visible, which was hurtful.”
She also expressed her joy at being able to meet so many Deaf people coming from various countries. “Their culture, sign language and costumes were different and beautiful… we must enjoy diversity.”
Although she missed Indian food and struggled to deal with international cuisines.
Varsha misses her dad the most during such events, as it was his dream to see his daughter become a supermodel.
She also expressed her thankfulness to AIDACS and Meetu Kohli for their support, along with her mother, who has always supported her.
Varsha now wants to work in the modelling industry. Instead of attending charity functions, she wants to work as a paid model and support her family. She believes that Deaf should be taken as actors instead of hearing people acting as Deaf in movies and shows. She also wants to meet PM Modi. What an inspiring story! At the MMDI the 3rd sub-event is the Ms. Deaf International. Saritha Musuku came 2nd (First runner up) in Ms. Deaf International. She also won Best Swimwear, Best Traditional Dance and Best Photogenic Face.
Who is Saritha?
Saritha is from an agricultural family of Warangal district of Telangana. She moved to Hyderabad, Telangana in 2012 to pursue a career in modelling and acting. She worked as a junior artist in many films and had a prominent role in Burrakatha in 2019. She has lost her father. Through an interpreter, she said that this is her first trip abroad and her happiness doubled when she won the crown. She hopes that this victory will be like a launchpad for her in the movies. She said despite not being able to understand the dialogues, she has been a big movie buff since childhood and understood scenes through actors' expressions.
She has a strong belief that she will be recognised as a movie star one day. So see, both the wonderful Deaf women lost their fathers, and they are very determined to build their own future. We, at ISH News, wish them both great success!
