Suman Ratan Singh Rao (born 23 November 1998) is an Indian model and beauty pageant title holder who was crowned

Femina Miss India 2019 Femina Miss India 2019 was the 56th edition of the Femina Miss India beauty pageant. It was held at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, Mumbai on June 15, 2019, and was hosted by Karan Johar, Manish Paul and Miss World 2017, Manushi Chhill ...

. She represented India at the

Miss World 2019 Miss World 2019, the 69th edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 14 December 2019 at the ExCeL London in London, United Kingdom. Vanessa Ponce of Mexico crowned her successor Toni-Ann Singh of Jamaica at the end of the event. Backgro ...

pageant in

ExCeL London ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House, Newham, Custom House area of London Borough of Newham, Newham, East London. It is sit ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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

District,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

. Her father, Ratan Singh Rao, is a jeweller, while mother Sushila Kunwar Rao 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 Mahatma Education Society is a not-for-profit trust in India that manages 48 educational institutions, including schools, colleges, and institutions of architecture, management, engineering, vocational education, and teacher training. The insti ...

Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai (), is a planned city situated on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, located in the Konkan division of Maharashtra state, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The city is ...

and is pursuing Chartered Accountancy course from the

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is India's largest professional accounting body under the administrative control of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. It was established on 1 July 1949 as a statutory bod ...

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

Mewari Mewari is an Indo-Aryan language of the Rajasthani 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 Madhya Prades ...

. She is also a trained

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

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

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 model, beauty pageant titleholder and actress 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 201 ...

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium is an indoor sports arena, in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The facility seats 5,000 people. Originally an outdoor stadium, it was established in 1957 and the foundation stone was laid by the former Chief Mini ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. 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 (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

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, Miss Int ...

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 (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at '' The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was appointed editor of the ...

. 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 a British 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. She is the wi ...

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, it originates from the Arabian Peninsula, but grows wild in tro ...

and

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

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 A loom is a device used to weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but t ...

, decorative

handicrafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

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

, a non-profit organisation backed by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

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

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

Toni-Ann Singh Toni-Ann Singh (born February 1996) is a Jamaican beauty queen who won Miss World 2019. She was previously crowned Miss Jamaica World 2019 and is the fourth woman from Jamaica to win Miss World. She is also the longest-reigning Miss World in th ...

from

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. 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.

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