Nina Davuluri
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Nina Davuluri
By Carol Ann Benanti/Staten Island Advance Silive
By Chidanand Rajghatta The Times of India Sep 17, 2013
By Josh Duboff VanityFair By M N Samdani The Times of India Sep 17, 2013
Nina Davuluri won the 2014 Miss America pageant on Sept 15, 2013, becoming the first Indian-American to wear the crown.
Contestants were judged on the basis of evening gowns, lifestyle/ fitness, talent, a personal interview and a live on-stage question. Davuluri was asked about the wisdom of a TV anchor getting plastic surgery on her eyes. She said she's against plastic surgery, but people should make their own choice and be confident in their appearances.
Davuluri was asked about Julie Chen’s recent admission that she had plastic surgery to make her eyes look “less Asian.” Davuluri was predictably diplomatic in her answer: “I don’t agree with plastic surgery, however I can understand that from a standpoint. More importantly I’ve always viewed Miss America as the girl next door. And Miss America is always evolving. . . I wouldn’t want to change someone’s looks. Be confident in who you are.”
For the talent part, she chose a classical Bollywood fusion dance piece, capitalizing on her formal training in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi.
She had reportedly been “discouraged” from performing such a dance, as the [New York?] Post says she was told “she’d never win,” as it was “too foreign.”
Family
Nina's father Davuluri Koteshwara Choudhary, who migrated to the US in 1981, is a gynaecologist in Fayetteville, New York
Nina was the only one in her immediate family who did not pursue medicine. While her parents, father Koteswara Chowdary and mother Sheila Ranjani, are doctors in the US, her maternal aunt and uncle too are doctors. Nina's elder sister, Meena, is in her third year of medicine. Her paternal uncles are also doctors in US.
Koteswara shifted to the US soon after his marriage in 1981. Sheila is on the board of Montessori Kalasala as vice-president and visits the city [Vijayawada] at least once in two years. The girls of the Montessori celebrated the Nina's new title.
Nina last visited Vijaywada city in 2007 soon after becoming first runners up in Miss America's outstanding teen contest.
Fought obesity, asthma
Nina Davuluri's 85-year-old grandmother V Koteswaramma, lives in Moghalrajapuram Vijayawada. Recalling how her grand-daughter struggled before reaching the pinnacle, Koteswaramma said that Nina overcame two obstacles, asthma and obesity.
The [New York?] Post reported a few hours before the Miss America victory that Davuluri used to be overweight, having “shed 53 pounds in only a few years.”
Beauty with brains
Nina herself has a degree in Brain Behaviour and Cognitive Science from the University of Michigan, and aspires to be a cardiologist , a goal for which she pledged the $ 50,000 prize money she won with her crown.
"Nina wanted to study medicine and become a cardiologist. But she took a new route and has now won the Miss America title," grandmother Koteswaramma informs.
Nina loves Telugu films and culture and is a trained Kuchipudi and Bharat Natyam dancer.
Miss Syracuse, and then Miss New York
On July 13, 2013, Nina Davuluri (born 1989) from Syracuse, N.Y., was crowned Miss New York at the stately St. George Theatre. She reached the Miss New York finals because earlier still she had won the Miss Syracuse title.
Miss Davuluri, was crowned Miss New York by her predecessor, Sharon Oliver. She received a $10,000 scholarship.
Davuluri wore a floor length evening gown of light yellow. She will spend her year advocating for diversity.
The Miss America Organization is the nation's leading scholarship provider for women, awarding more than $45 million annually.
Racist reactions to her triumph
Nina Davuluri of Indian origin who became Miss America faced racial comments on social media soon after winning the crown. The attacks embarrassed many Americans. Miss Davuluri herself preferred to stay above the muck, telling the Associated Press that she always viewed herself first and foremost as an American.
"I have to rise above that," she said. "I always viewed myself as first and foremost American."
"I'm so happy this organization has embraced diversity... I'm thankful there are children watching at home who can finally relate to a new Miss America," she added.
Politically-incorrect herself
Not that Nina is a bleeding-heart, politically-correct liberal herself. Page Six reported two days before she won the Miss America crown that Davuluri had been recorded by one of the other contestants calling her predecessor, Mallory Hagan [who would crown her two months later], “fat as f--- ” in a hotel room on July 16 in Staten Island. Davuluri now denies the statement.
