'Living My Mother’s Dream': Nandini Gupta Discusses Her Journey To Miss World 2025

Nandini Gupta, crowned Femina Miss India 2023, is all set to dazzle the ramp again as she proudly represents India in the Miss World 2025 pageant in Telangana. The 21-year-old from Rajasthan's Kota will captivate the world with her elegance, confidence, and dedication to make a positive impact. As she prepares to welcome Miss World 2025 contestants from over 100 countries to India, she is determined to represent her homeland's diverse culture and celebrate global unity. "It is a moment of pride!" Gupta expressed in an exclusive interview with SheThePeople. 

From Small Town To World Ramp

Besides the glam and glitz of pageantry, Nandini Gupta spoke about her humble upbringing in a small town. "I was born in a small village. My father is a farmer, my mother is a homemaker, and I have a younger sister. We also have a little Labrador, Banjo. I grew up playing in the fields of mustard, millets, and black chickpeas," she recalled.

Gupta's agricultural background inspired her advocacy for the environment and efforts to uplift grassroots communities. "Coming from a farming family has influenced me as a person who believes in sustainability and lives it on an everyday basis. There are small steps that you can take towards leading the change to protect Mother Earth."

"I know that when it rained seasonlessly, my father used to have these three lines on his forehead because he knew that the crop would be ruined. And that's not only just a fear for one farmer in India, but the reason many farmers take their own lives. Thus, I take sustainability as my lifestyle. I think about what I eat, I live with a lot of awareness of what I'm using, where I'm using, and how to influence other people. I also want to start a business for lab-grown chemical vapour deposition  (CVD) diamonds, which are sustainable and do not hurt Mother Earth."

For Gupta, competing in Miss World is beyond a personal dream— it's a tribute to her mother's story. "When I won Miss India at 19, my mom told me that she had won Miss Madhya Pradesh when she was 21, but her dream of going to Miss India was left halfway... By competing in Miss World, I am living and cherishing her dream."

Beyond A Crown: Nandini Gupta On Purpose, Sisterhood

Nandini Gupta is also deeply passionate about championing inclusivity for people with disabilities. Her 'Beauty with a Purpose' project, Ekta, which means unity in Hindi, is inspired by her uncle's journey with disabilities. Growing up, she witnessed the challenges he faced due to society’s lack of understanding and accessibility. 

"I've been so close to my uncle, who has polio in his tongue, has developmental delays and intellectual disabilities. I saw him struggling in a world that wasn't built for him, where people would judge the way he looked, spoke, or walked. But in the end, everyone forgot that he's also a person beyond his struggles," Gupta shared.

She continued, "That made me ask myself, what would happen to those who have the same disabilities, but their families don't support them, or who are not financially stable? That [drove] project Ekta, where you don't make spaces on the table because of sympathy or charity, but you do it in the celebration of uniqueness."

"It is my mission to build an inclusive community where people with disabilities don't have to depend on someone, but they just have to believe in their dreams. I hope one day I'm able to make that dream possible, where ramps are built without reminders, and dignity is not debated. I hope from this, we lead to the next step of life, where the foundation of each and every person is to see the people with disability, not with pity or fear, but with respect."

With hundreds of beauty queens eyeing the shimmering Miss World crown, the competition is fierce. However, Nandini Gupta believes it is an opportunity to forge deep, lasting bonds with women from across the globe. "Coming in pageantry, I realised that we all can have one goal and different purposes, but in the end, you live in sisterhood."

"Pageantry is not about competition, it's about collaboration. All the contestants live under the same roof for 25 days. You don't know them on the first day. But when the pageant ends, you leave with happy tears because you got a chance. You make diverse friends from different parts of the world, and that's such a proud moment."

Gupta expressed, "All I can think about is how 120 contestants will be coming from their homeland to India. They will be welcomed with warmth, and greeted with 'Andariki Namaskaram' (Welcome, everyone), as they do in Hyderabad... I look forward to everyone's respect, love, and support while I go to represent India at Miss World."