July 29, 2019
Vidisha Baliyan has become the first Indian to win the Miss Deaf
World 2019 crown. Helping this young woman achieve this feat was Paralympian
Deepa Malik and her daughter, Devika, co-founders of the Wheeling Happiness
Foundation.
Twenty-one-year old Vidisha Baliyan has made history. From
Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh this young woman is the first Indian to wear the
Miss Deaf World 2019 crown.
The finals, held in Mbombela, South Africa, saw Vidisha take on contestants
from 11 countries for this title. A former international tennis player,
Vidisha has represented India in the Deaflympics and won a
silver medal. Vidisha shared her entire journey through the competition on
Instagram.
Winning the title is just the beginning of the dream. There are many people
with hearing-impaired conditions who are extremely talented and deserve
opportunities. As Robert Frost famously said, ‘Miles to go before I
sleep’. I was inspired to participate in the pageant to gain confidence
and develop my personality. Through this platform, I also want to motivate
the deaf community to focus on the talent they have, and not be upset about
what they don’t have. – Vidisha Baliyan, Miss Deaf World
2019
She also credited Paralympian Deepa Malik. “I’m grateful
to Deepa Mallik for mentoring me and for providing access to all
resources,”
Vidisha approached Deepa shortly after she won the Miss Deaf India
2019 in February. Deepa, who was crowned Navy Queen 1998,
is aware of what goes behind preparing for such a major pageant. It also
helped that she knew Vidisha from before. Vidisha and Deepa had trained
together under the same instructor earlier.
“We had both taken body conditioning and muscle training at the foundation
under the same instructor in 2013-14. She was dealing with a severe back
injury and we had motivated her. As a para sportsperson, I understand the
challenges disabled people face and she was training for the Deaflympics
too”, says Deepa.
Vidisha approached Deepa for help with the world pageant earlier this year.
Deepa and daughter Devika Malik, who are founders of the
Wheeling Happiness Foundation, were initially reluctant.
“Our foundation works with underprivileged people and Vidisha is well off
so we hesitated at first. Then we did a rethink because we realised that this
was an opportunity to showcase ability beyond disability. Besides, Wheeling
Happiness believes in inclusive fashion and we have done many inclusive
fashion shows. We even helped someone prepare for a wheelchair beauty
contest”.
Three months of intense brainstorming and preparation went into the final
moment, for which Deepa gives much of the credit to her daughter Devika.
“We spent a lot of thought on the talent and national costume rounds
because these are the most decisive”, says Deepa. In the talent round,
Vidisha performed the taandav, which was much appreciated.
“We had just 90 seconds for the talent round and the idea was to convey a
meaningful message”, says Deepa who consulted with her daughter’s friend
Anupama Iyer. “We integrated a sign of peace and included
sign language in it”.
Vidisha’s national costume and jewellery, which came to over ₹20 lakh was
designed by the renowned Sabyasachi Mukherjee, who had
designed Deepa’s outfit for the Padma Shri.
Deepa says many people came forward to support the foundation’s efforts in
making Vidisha ready for the world event, including pageant trainer
Rita Gangwani, stylists and photographers.
Deepa also took Vidisha to meet with Amruta Fadnavis, wife
of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and
Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State of the Ministry of
Youth Affairs and Sports and Minister of State in the
Ministry of Minority Affairs of India ahead of the competition for
their blessings.
“One thing this made me realise is the enormous goodwill people in India
have for Paralympians. People do value my medals and whoever I reached out to
for help, responded in a positive way”, says Deepa. She believes this shows
the respect people have for Paralympians.
Above all, she is happy that the larger purpose of Wheeling Happiness
Foundation has been reaffirmed, and that is “that whenever a disabled girl is
given due attention and is empowered, she is capable of standing in the world
as an equal”.
