Suman Ratan Singh Rao (born 23 November 1998) is an Indian model and beauty pageant title holder who was crowned Femina Miss India 2019. She represented India at the

Miss World 2019 Miss World 2019 was the 69th edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Exhibition Centre London in London, England, on 14 December 2019. At the end of the event, Vanessa Ponce of Mexico crowned Toni-Ann Singh of Jamaica as Miss World 20 ...

pageant in ExCeL London in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and was crowned as the 2nd runner-up and as Miss World Asia.

Early life and education

Suman Rao was born on 23 November 1998 in Aaidana village,

Rajsamand Rajsamand is a city, located in Rajsamand Mewar district of Rajasthan, India. The city is named for Rajsamand Lake, an artificial lake created in the 17th century by Rana Raj Singh Rajsamand Udaipur of Mewar. It is the administrative head ...

District,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

. Her father, Rao Ratan Singh Aidana, is a jeweller, while mother Sushila Kunwar is a homemaker. She has two brothers, Jitendra and Chirag. Her family moved to Mumbai when she was a year old. She did her schooling at Mahatma School of Academics and Sports in

Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai (; also known as New Bombay, its official name until 1995) is a large city next to Mumbai, located in the Konkan division of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is situated in Thane distr ...

and is pursuing Chartered Accountancy course from the

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Abbreviation, abbreviated as ICAI, is India's largest professional accounting body under the administrative control of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. It was established on ...

. She is fluent in English and Hindi, in addition to her mother tongue

Mewari Mewari is an Indo-Aryan language of the Rajasthani languages group. It is spoken by about five million speakers in Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Udaipur, Chittorgarh and Pratapgarh districts of Rajasthan state and Mandsaur, Neemuch districts of Madh ...

. She is also a trained

Bharatnatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jain ...

dancer.

Pageantry

In 2018, she took part in Miss

contest, where she was crowned as 1st runner-up. She then auditioned for the title of Femina Miss Rajasthan 2019 which she eventually won. She represented the state of

at the Femina Miss India 2019 pageant. On 15 June 2019, she was crowned as Femina Miss India World by the outgoing titleholder

Anukreethy Vas Anukreethy Vas (born September 28, 1999) is an Indian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Femina Miss India 2018. She represented India at the 68th edition of Miss World pageant held in Sanya, China on 8 December 2018 ...

at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. During the pageant's sub contest ceremony, she won the 'Miss Rampwalk' award.

Miss World 2019

Rao represented

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

at the 69th edition of

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

pageant, where she placed third in the 'Top Model' round and Top 27 in 'Talent' segment. She won the first stage of Head-to-Head Challenge in Group 14, thus qualifying for the succeeding round of the challenge, which was judged by

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...

. She competed against Bangladesh in the round, where she won and secured a spot in the Top 40 of Miss World 2019. Rao's

Beauty with a Purpose Julia Evelyn Morley (née Pritchard; born 25 October 1939) is an English businesswoman, charity worker and former model. She is the chairman and CEO of the Miss World Organization, which organizes the Miss World and Mister World pageants. Sh ...

project was also selected in the Top 10. Her campaign is titled ‘Project Pragati’, for which she took initiatives to help the dreams of women in tribal communities by assisting them in acquiring financial independence. She procured machines which aids in the production of

aloe vera ''Aloe vera'' () is a succulent plant species of the genus ''Aloe''. It is widely distributed, and is considered an invasive species in many world regions. An evergreen perennial plant, perennial, it originates from the Arabian Peninsula, but ...

and

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

extracts, gels and shampoo. Thereby, the women could manufacture the products and earn their livelihood from within their village. Her project received support from the Princess Diya Kumari Foundation and through this institution, the women were trained to make handlooms, decorative

handicrafts A handicraft is a traditional main sector of craft making and applies to a wide range of creative and design activities that are related to making things with one's hands and skill, including work with textiles, moldable and rigid material ...

, accessories and jewellery. These products are sold near the Jaipur City Palace and also through an online website. Further, she associated with the

Bharat Sevashram Sangha Bharat Sevashram Sangha is a Hinduism, Hindu religious and spiritual organisation focused on humanitarian work. It was founded in 1917 by the illustrious patriot saint Swami Pranavananda, Acharya Srimat Swami Pranavananda Maharaj. It is purely ...

, a non-profit organisation backed by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, for an even wider reach of their products. The pageant's finale was held in ExCeL London,

, on 14 December 2019, and Rao was the 2nd runner-up to the eventual winner,

Toni-Ann Singh Toni-Ann Singh (born February 1, 1996) is a Jamaican beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss World 2019 and is the fourth woman from Jamaica to win Miss World. She is also the longest-reigning Miss World in the history of the pageant. She was pr ...

from

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. She is the first Indian to be crowned the 2nd runner-up at the Miss World pageant.

Media

Rao was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Women at No. 2 in 2019.

Filmography

Music videos

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Suman Femina Miss India winners Indian beauty pageant winners Living people Miss World 2019 delegates Female models from Rajasthan 1998 births People from Rajsamand district