MS World International Ambassador 2022 Priya Paramita Paul: I want to now live my life my way… Acting has been a dream too and I’m working towards that right now

Priya Paramita Paul always dreamt of representing her country in beauty pageants. However, different issues in life tried bogging her down. Not one to give up on her dreams, Priya decided to start over. Her transformation, both physical and mental, and then winning MS World International Ambassador 2022 in Miami is inspiring. The IT professional talks about her journey so far, her dream of becoming an actor and why she would like to continue healing people. She starts with revealing her background.
“I was born and raised in Guwahati, Assam in a middle class family. My father was a banker, mom is a homemaker. My younger sister is married and lives in the US. I got married in 2014, but two years later we separated. I found out that he was unfaithful to me. I used to be a national level dancer too. After finishing class 12 in Guwahati, I moved to Bangalore to complete my engineering in computer science. Later I started working, a call centre and then moved to software. Right now I am a project manager in IT. I was in Bangalore for 16 years. From 2016 till now, I have started working on myself. In 2016 I did a lot of energy healing courses, and worked on my mental health. From 2017, I started working as a life coach along with my regular job. My ex-husband left a lot of financial burden on me. I had to pay EMI for the house, furniture and even his education loan. In 2018, after our separation I felt like fulfilling all my wishes, that’s where it all started,” she shares

After getting this second chance in my life, Priya started applying for pageants. “As a kid I was inspired by Sushmita Sen’s journey and always dreamt of wearing the crown and representing my country. So when I restarted I began by working on my physical part of life. I have worked on my body, public speaking skills, etiquettes, learnt to do my own makeup, accessorise myself and moved to Mumbai for my pageant training. After gaining some knowledge, I participated in MS world international as the first India participant. Unlike Miss and Mrs in India, MS defines no relationship status of a woman. This pageant gave me a platform where I could talk about my personal and transformation journey. I realised I can create awareness around mental health, so that made me happier,” she smiles.
About the response she received and her experience at the pageant, Priya reveals that during her journey a lot of people appreciated her transformation.

“As I said, taking part in the pageant was a dream come true. You have India in your heart and you are representing your country, and when I was there on stage nobody knew me as Priya, people knew me as India, so it was a great honour. There were people from 87 countries and we all talked about brands, our culture, the places to visit, and we shared a lot of gifts. I am glad I believed in myself,” she adds.

Priya’s career goal is to live her life her way. “At present, I am still doing my office job as I have seen a lot of changes in my office life too. My office has been one of my sponsors and they supported my journey so I am grateful to them as well. I am continuing all my workshops and counselling too and I have started taking acting classes. I would like to be on TV and be a part of the entertainment. Acting has also been another dream. Being able to do all these things makes me very happy,” she ends.