Sushmita Sen shares inspiring journey behind her Miss India winning gown: "kapde khareed ke laaye gaye Sarojini Nagar se"

Sushmita Sen, crowned Miss India in 1994 and later winning Miss Universe on May 21, 1994, charmed everyone by sharing the story of how her winning gown was crafted by a local tailor in a garage, as seen in a resurfaced video circulating on social media.

In the video, Sushmita Sen reminisces about the creation of her winning gown while speaking with Farooq Shaikh on the talk show Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai. She said, "Itne paise nahi the ki hum designer kapde pehen ke stage par jaye. Char costumes chahiye the. Hum middle class ke log hai aur humko humari restrictiosn maloom thi (When I went for Miss India, we didn't have enough money to buy designer clothes and go to the stage as I needed four costumes. We are a middle-class family and we knew our limitations)".

She then shared how her mother always supported her and said, "So what? People are not coming to see your clothes but to see you."

She described how the dress was custom-made from scratch, stating, " Toh chalo, shuru ho gye, kapde khareed ke laaye gaye Sarojini Nagar market (a flea market in New Delhi) se. Humare neeche, garage mein, ek petticoat silne wala aadmi tha, unko jaakar thama dia aur kaha, 'Dekho bhaiya, TV pe aane wala hai, accha banana.' Unhone uss fabric ke sath mera winning gown tyaar kia, mummy ne bache hue fabric ko mod k ek rose bnaya aur fir kala socks, brand new khareed ke kaat ke, usmein elastic daal ke gloves pehne the maine (Then we started. We bought some fabrics from the Sarojini Nagar market. Right below where we lived, a man used to stitch peti coats in the garage. We gave the clothes to him and said see it is going to be shown on television so please make it good. With that fabric, he tailored my winning gown and my mom used the remaining fabric to make roses for the finishing part. Then we bought brand new black socks which my mom cut and put an elastic and that is what I wore as my gloves."

"Mere liye woh din, jis din main woh dress pehen ke Miss India jeeti thi, mere liye itni badi baat hai. Insaan ko jo chahiye hota hai, uske liye paise ki zarurat nai hoti, insaan ki intentions sahi honi chahiye (And the day I won Miss India, wearing that dress, was such a huge thing for me. It proves that when a person wants something, money is not necessary but what's more important is good intentions)," she said in the nostalgic video clip.