Jamshedpur: She can't hear people telling her how pretty she is, but she can see the admiration and the smiles. And she dreams of conquering global runways with her strut and style.
Meet Deshna Jain, 20, a hearing impaired girl from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, who won three beauty titles this year, Miss Deaf India in February in Jaipur, and Miss Deaf Asia and third runner-up Miss Deaf International, the last two in Taiwan earlier this month.
Deshna, who was here in Jamshedpur, won hearts on Saturday at Carmel Bal Vihar School in Sonari, a place of learning for speech and hearing impaired.
Wearing an off-shoulder gown and looking as pretty as a picture, Deshna spoke to students of Carmel Bal Vihar in sign language, but her message was loud and clear: physical disability should not be a reason to lose heart.
The owner of Circuit House-based tea parlour La Gravitea Avinash Dugar, who invited Deshna to the steel city, interpreted her sign language into speech for people other than deaf-mute students at the gathering, such as social workers and mediapersons.
Sharing her experience of winning the Miss Deaf India and Miss Deaf Asia crowns, Deshna said consistency was the key. "There were so many tall girls with better personality but I was consistent in my performances and that's how I won," she said.
The girl who now is preparing for Miss Deaf World and a global fashion show in Italy in 2019, credited her businessman dad Devendra Jain and homemaker mother Divya with motivation.
"I had never thought of modelling because I thought I wasn't fit enough. But my family encouraged me to participate in a local beauty pageant with other normal girls and I became the first runner-up. That made me realise I could do it," said the second-year BA arts student of Indira Gandhi National Open University.
She added that her father had always told her to not just dream of stars but focus on them with a positive attitude. "That's how I dared," she said.
Lucky to have a supportive family - she has an elder brother Diwaker, 22, who is also hearing impaired, and a grandmother - Deshna said she wanted youngsters like her to be ambitious and set goals. Deshna said that hearing impaired girls were married off very early, but they should instead work on their skills and take up a career to make them financially independent.
Deshna also performed a dance - "I love dancing though I can't hear music" - and sat for a Q&A from students and guests on future plans to overcoming fears.
Father Devendra told this paper that his daughter had made them proud. "My wife and I learnt the sign language to communicate with our children. We are a close-knit family and we always encourage our children to pursue their dreams," he said.
La Gravitea owner Dugar, who is also campaigning for a Honk Free Tatanagar for which Deshna is a brand ambassador, called her a young icon. "She is a young icon for speech and hearing impaired people. Deshna inspires so many people to dream big," he said.
