21-year-old Vidisha Baliyan from Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar city has been crowned the Miss Deaf World 2019. She becomes the first Indian to win the title. The international beauty pageant was held in Mbombela, South Africa on July 22.
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Vidisha Baliyan is a modelling student of Asian Academy of Film & Television. Baliyan’s family currently lives in Ghaziabad. She was trained for the pageant in Gurugram and Noida.
In the final round of the pageant, out of the 16 countries that participated, 11 finalists were chosen among which Vidisha emerged victorious. She had participated in the pageant despite having a back injury. A South African woman has been chosen as the runner up in the event.
Vidisha took to Instagram to share the news. She was hearing-impaired right from childhood. She wrote, “Winning the title is just the beginning of the dream. There are many people with hearing-impaired conditions who are extremely talented and deserve opportunities. As Robert Frost famously said, ‘Miles to go before I sleep’.”
Vidisiha also explains why she participated in the pageant. She said, “I was inspired to participate in the pageant to gain confidence and develop my personality. Through this platform, I also want to motivate the deaf community to focus on the talent they have, and not be upset about what they don’t have”.
During the talent round of the pageant, she performed Tandav. She shared pictures of her performing it on Instagram. She wrote, “Performing Tandav, which is a vigorous dance form by Hindu God Lord Shiva. Since my young age, I’ve loved dancing though I couldn’t hear the rhythm, melody or sounds clearly. To dance, one needs fire in their heart and soul, and music in their spirit”.
Besides this, Vidisha is also a former international tennis player. She represented India at the Deaflympics. As written on her Instagram post, Vidisha had earned the 5th rank at the Deaflympics following which she suffered a severe back injury. She then wrote, “Unable to see a reason to live, I didn’t give up because of the strength my family gave me. And in time, I was shown another way – Miss Deaf India. A novice to the world of beauty and fashion, I learnt what was needed and won the title”.