JEWEL IN THE CROWN
Easy lies the head that wears the Miss America tiara, because NINA DAVULURI believes in kindness, whether it’s hate tweets or bulimia By Sonam Chawla
LAST YEAR A MAJOR EVENT took place, besides the recognition of twerk and selfie as words by the Oxford English Dictionary. An Indian-American won the Miss America title, and the diaspora got a face. It was as though the responsibility of imparting mainstream coolness to our culture now rested upon the very in-shape shoulders of this young woman.
When I was set to meet with Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014, I wondered what my primary conversation-starter would be, besides the obvious common background. Perhaps that we were both born to textbook-conforming Indian parents, who know their straight As from a stray B+. Or that we both have a shared love for higher education. Perhaps, I could make the high jump to the now infamous unkind comments on social media about her win—most referencing her ‘different’ roots. While I had gauged from previously published and televised interviews how gracefully she had fielded the remarks, I was curious to see a firsthand reaction—a non-practised, real-life version. I imagined a girl-to-girl rant-session that Gretchen Wieners of Mean Girls would whole-heartedly approve of.
However, when Davuluri arrived on location for Bazaar India’s shoot held in the heart of NYC, all my preconceived notions of beauty-queen-with-a-grudge faded away. Davuluri is anything but wrathful, and on the contrary, so calm and mature it almost hurts. While the rest of us struggled to cope with the unpleasant morning hour, each wielding a cup of our choice of caffeinated beverage and dressed in layers enough to make eskimos blush, Davuluri was a trooper, braving sub-zero weather in light and airy lamé pieces.
“They called me Bollywood Barbie at the pageant,” she reminisced, while I waited to jump in with my Debbie Downer of an icebreaker—could we get to those Twitter comments already? Some had analysed whether she would ever have been able to compete in an Indian pageant amidst lighter-skinned counterparts. Others equated Davuluri’s win with India’s placement in the Arab world. (“And the Arab wins Miss America. Classic.”) Some assumed terrorist inclinations and took offence at the proximity of her selection to the anniversary of 9/11. (“9/11 was 4 days ago and she gets Miss America?”) It could have been easy to get carried away by the very basic need for a satisfying comeback. But Davuluri remained unaffected, revelling in her winning moment, without losing her positive vibe. “I saw it coming as I had received similar reactions when I won the Miss New York title,” she says. “But it was an accomplishment that marked a personal victory for me—one so important, that I couldn’t have allowed the negativity of others to take it away from me. Not after the fight I had to put up against my eating disorder and weight issues.”
And the results are worthy of showing off. Not only did she overcome bulimia, but also, several bootcamp and CrossFit classes later, dropped about 24 kgs to attain her current shape. Davuluri has since been outspoken about her struggles with eating disorders and victory over them.
I revisited my observation of Indians keeping it fiercely traditional when raising children abroad. So what did the Davuluri family, with an overall inclination towards outstanding educational accomplishments (her sister is a medical student as well), have to say about their younger daughter showing off her svelte figure on national stage in a swimsuit? Perhaps the folks back in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, where both her parents are from, weren’t as understanding? “My family has witnessed my fight firsthand, and they offered their full support when they saw how important this event was to me,” Davuluri explained. “Watching me exude confidence in that suit made them proud.”
Positive changes aside, did Miss America also affect her daily routine? Her manager informed me that of the six Miss Americas she has worked with, Davuluriis one of the most easily recognisable. “Not an errand goes without someone stopping me,” Davuluri admits. And as for routine, there is anything but one. “I recently announced the dates for next year’s pageant, but until September 14, when a new girl will be crowned, I get to live out of two suitcases,” she says.
The Bharatnatyam-trained beauty queen, who stood out for her lively dance performance to Dhoom Taana from Om Shanti Om, has come to stand for the one thing she faced backlash for—diversity. “Egypt dancing? This is America. #MissAmerica”—one tweet summed up the general sentiment of the ignorant and the incited. Born in the state (New York) that is recognised for being a cultural melting-pot, Nina Davuluri is as American as they come—poised, smart, confident, and well-aware of her goals and focus. But that she is still ‘our people’ brings the familiar emotion that was manifested when Kalpana Chawla became the first Indian-American in space, or when M Night Shyamalan was at the Oscars. This feeling of pride and association is an essentially Indian characteristic, and has usually worked wonders back home for the person who made it big abroad. So, naturally, I ask if Davuluri would ever consider Bollywood. However, the self-admitted geek’s plans are strictly to follow her bachelor’s degree in Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Science with medical school. It is this focus that the pageant, the consequent win, and the support or the lack of it that followed, could not change.
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