It has taken me some time to learn and appreciate my identity as a South Asian woman. To know that there’s a history of South Asian people breaking barriers way before it was even considered slightly possible to do so. South Asian people are on that page of history, and one of those people is Dr. Reita Faria.
In November 1966, in London, Reita Faria was to become the first Asian to win the Miss World Beauty Pageant. At the time she was a 23-year-old medical student. When she first entered the pageant, she was told her odds of winning were 1:66. She did not have the glamorous wardrobe that her other fellow contestants had when she arrived in England for the pageant. And yet, she won.
She was the definition of beauty with a purpose, for she was not willing to let herself get caught up with the glam life that now awaited her. Overwhelmed by the press following her every move, she is quoted to have said “One day I was a student and nobody took any notice of me. The next day I was Miss World and everyone wanted to know me. It just showed how artificial and temporary all this recognition was.”
As Miss World, she did her required one year tenure, which included going to South Vietnam to support the troops. Then, despite the many movie-offers that came her way, she chose to finish off her medical degree and become a doctor.
Today Faria is still alive and well, with her husband David Powell, and with five grandchildren, still practicing as an endocrinologist. It’s pretty apparent that she has no regrets about the choices she has made. She has stated:
“The glamour world could have never given me this grounded security. I wish the girls today would realise the fleeting nature of fame and looks. Running after these flashes of publicity, trying to hold onto what changes so rapidly and always looking out for variety, be it in ambitions or relations, is bound to cause distress. It’s unusual for a celebrity to make for a happy family these days, but this is where real happiness lies — in secure relationships.”
She is truly, and forever will be, an icon to every woman in the world.
Sources:
https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/fashion/not-just-a-pretty-face/