The story of Miss Wheelchair world winner | Fusion - WeRIndia

Priya Bhargava was born as a normal child to an army officer and a Kendriya Vidyalaya teacher. However, when she was 19 years old, she was diagnosed with a rare and incurable disease known as Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (or SLE), which is more commonly known as lupus.

By profession, Priya is a painter, a writer, and a teacher, but her condition did not permit her to hold a normal job, since she needs about 10 to 12 hours of rest.

However, her life took an upward turn when a Facebook friend of hers, Professor Prabhat Ranjan, messages her about the Miss Wheelchair India beauty pageant.

At first, Priya simply wanted to focus on her education, so she did not give the pageant much thought.

However, soon after she finished her masters in computer applications in June of 2014, she sent her profile and her pictures to Sounak Banerjee, who had created the pageant in 2013.

Sounak called her back and encouraged her to participate, as well as asking her to send more glamorous pictures of herself. Priya was thrown off, because she had been of the mindset that beauty and disability could not possibly go hand in hand.

However, she made it to the top seven, which prompted her to participate.

In December of 2015, Priya won the Miss Wheelchair India pageant, and learned about Miss Wheelchair World pageant soon after. She began preparing for this pageant by working on her weaknesses and flaws.

She learned makeup, worked on her weight, and practiced her speaking. When Priya was told that she would be representing India in this pageant, she was honored by the Government of India with the Naari Pratibha Puraskar, in association with the Women Entrepreneur Association.

Although she did not end up bringing home the crown, her journey and experience at the Miss Wheelchair World pageant in Poland are proof of both Priya’s resilience and her determination to never give up on living a good life.

Image Reference: YourStory, TheBetterIndia