By Mia Anthony
Defying her own doubts and dominating the stage in India, Aruna Sukhdeo was on June 18, crowned Miss India Worldwide 2023, making her the second Guyanese to win the title in 30 years.
The 20-year-old, who is a Business Economics student at the University of Guyana, revealed that the Miss India Guyana pageant, which was her springboard to the international stage, was the first one she had entered on such a scale. But she almost quit early in the game because of the claims that the industry was oversexualised.
“Before entering pageantry, I was almost consumed… always thinking to myself: it’s a beauty pageant why do they need to do this? And I ended up doing my research,”she said. She related that her findings showed that the Miss Universe pageant has also considered discontinuing the use of the bikini competition.