18-year-old Indian American from Virginia, Aarya Walvekar, has been crowned Miss India USA 2022 at the annual pageant held in New Jersey.
"It has been my childhood dream to see myself on the silver screen and work in films and TV," Aarya, an aspiring actor, said, as per PTI. "Honored to be your Miss India DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) 2022," she wrote on Instagram alongside sharing photos from the competition.
Aarya is a senior at Briar Woods High School in Virginia. According to TEDx Youth Briar Woods, she is an advocate for Mental Health and Body Positivity Heath at Every Size Movement. She has created various awareness campaigns and also spoken at a TEDx event on "Rethinking 'Healthy'".
She is also the founder of Euphoria Dance Studio, a business which provides affordable dance lessons to local children.
Coming back to the pageant, 74 contestants representing 30 US states participated in three different pageants - Miss India USA, Mrs India USA and Miss Teen India USA. Akshi Jain from Washington was crowned Mrs India USA and Tanvi Grover from New York was crowned Miss Teen India USA.
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