Here’s how Sushmita Sen beat Aishwarya Rai to win Miss India 1994 title

1994 was the year when our two Indian beauties brought glory to the nation. It was this year when Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai won the Miss Universe and Miss World titles respectively. While there have been many Miss Worlds before Aishwarya, it was Sushmita Sen who changed history by becoming the first Miss India Universe. However, not many know how Sushmita Sen beat Aishwarya Rai while competing for Miss India title on January 16, 1994, held in Goa.

While Aishwarya was a known name in the world of the modeling industry, Sushmita was pretty new to the glamour world. Aishwarya was also considered many people's favourite. Sushmita, in fact, reportedly withdrew her Miss India form, when she came to know that she would be competing with Aishwarya. But as history speaks for itself, Sushmita went on to win not only Miss India title, she became the first Indian to be crowned as Miss Universe the same year.

So what made an underdog Sushmita win the Miss India beauty pageant that Aishwarya was considered a strong contender for?

It is said that both Aishwarya and Sushmita had a tie and it was the tie-breaker round that decided the final winner for the coveted pageant.

In this tie-breaker round, Aishwarya was asked about her choice of qualities she would look for in a husband if she has to choose between Ridge Forrester from ‘The Bold & Beautiful’ or Mason Capwell from ‘Santa Barbara’. To which Aishwarya chose Mason as she felt they had a lot in common as Mason had a very caring side to him and a terrific sense of humour which gelled really well with her character. Sushmita was asked what did she know about the textile heritage of India and what would she prefer to wear personally. To which Sushmita replied saying that it had all started with Mahatma Gandhi's Khadi and it has come a long way since then. It was this answer that won Sushmita the Miss India crown, beating Aishwarya by a mere 0.2 percent.

Sushmita Sen recently completed 24 years of being crowned the Miss Universe. Recalling the moment when she was honoured with the coveted Miss Universe crown, Sushmita posted a beautiful picture of her with a heartfelt note.