India’s Harnaaz Sandhu is crowned Miss Universe 2021

Harnaaz Sandhu of India was crowned as the 70th Miss Universe on Sunday, topping a field of some 80 contestants in a pageant that was touched by politics and the pandemic. The former reigning Miss Universe, Andrea Meza of Mexico, crowned the 21-year-old. She is the third Indian to win the coveted title — after Sushmita Sen in 1994 and Lara Dutta in 2000.

The Miss Universe 2021 has studied in Shivalik Public School, Chandigarh, scoring 8 CGPA in CBSE board exams in 2015. “True to the motto of the school, ‘Victory with Determination’ she persevered to achieve great heights at the global level and Harnaaz’s feat has made us all proud. She was a regular and hardworking student,” said the school’s principal, Gurkiran Jeet Nalwa.

The last Indian to win this title was Lara Dutta who brought home the crown in the year 2000. Shedding light on what might be the reason for this gap of 21 years, she said, “We need to trust the timing because every girl that has represented India before and after Lara Dutta has beautifully represented the country and they have made India proud. It’s just that we need to understand that it’s the time, sometimes the other girl has worked harder or maybe that other country deserves to be there.