Destiny's Child

HARNAAZ SANDHU, all of 22, became Miss Universe 2021, winning a victor for India after 21 long years. Ashwini Arun Kumar traces the journey of a simple girl from Chandigarh who is on her way to global domination, and shines a light on the beautiful spirit that matches her face

- Ashwini Arun Kumar

It's 8.30 am, and a crew of 15 has gathered to shoot Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu in a plush duplex home on the 42nd floor of the Four Seasons Private Residences that gives you a bird's-eye view of Mumbai's famous Haji Ali Dargah and the ambitious eighth-lane Coastal Road Project. If it weren't for the sizeable entourage that walked in with her, I would not have believed that I am in the company of someone who was crowned Miss Universe in Israel a little over four months ago. Don't get me wrong: even free of makeup and her signature bombshell blowout hair, Harnaaz, dressed in a metallic silver shirt artfully French tucked into her navy blue 'mom-fit' denim, is the textbook definition of beautiful; it is her simplicity and absolute disinterest in being treated as the most important person in the room that catches everyone off guard.

Harnaaz is also whip-smart, a fact adroitly transmitted multitudes of times through the screen to viewers in 172 countries, especially when host Steve Harvey put her in a spot by asking her to perform animal impressions on a world stage. It's little wonder why she was chosen as the best among 80 contestants to mirror a woman of the world. But she's also blessed with another quality that might be rare in women who become standards for others to measure themselves against - she has the power to walk into a room and put others at ease. And, as she gives me a lowdown of the busy day that she is going to have between sips of water - hydration is the key in her skin routine, she admits - I realise that kindness is the only type of beauty that's truly transfixing.