Former Miss India Aditi Arya: Gurgaon has young, ambitious people, I imbibed that too

It’s been over a year since Delhi girl Aditi Arya was crowned fbb Femina Miss India 2015. Her reign as Miss India (which ended recently) has taken the 22-year-old DU alumna to Spain, where she represented India in the Miss World pageant. The beauty queen was in the capital recently, and shared with us what she misses about Delhi, memories from her DU days and how her hometown Gurgaon contributed to her success.
You lived in NCR for several years.How did the capital contribute to your success?
I lived in Gurgaon for eight years and in Delhi for three years after that. The thing about Gurgaon that helped me most was the atmosphere of the city – it’s filled with young, ambitious people who want to make it big and achieve something. Moving to Gurgaon from Chandigarh, I found that attitude helpful. If everyone around you is focused on succeeding, you imbibe that as well and your overall mindset changes. My will to succeed and make a name for myself came from that. In that regard, I have to say, Gurgaon did play a big part in my success.
Do you think the capital also provides people with more opportunities?
Of course. Being this close to Delhi and being home to so many corporate offices, Gurgaon offered me more avenues than Chandigarh could ever have. The ambition was coupled with greater exposure, which together gave me a great platform.
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Most folks from Gurgaon say it is a great place to live as there’s so much to do. How was it growing up there?
Sadly, I lived in Gurgaon while I was still in school. In school, you are still bound by curfews and your parents want you to come back home by a certain hour. So despite Gurgaon having all these things to do and places to go to, I never really got to do very much. I moved to Delhi when I began college and that’s when I got more freedom.
Tell us about your college life in Delhi.
I studied in DU’s College of Business Studies, which is in East Delhi, so it was quite far from the areas where students usually hung out. Moreover, my college was very strict and corporate-like, with rigid restrictions regarding attendance. So because of that, between classes, we couldn’t go to the usual hangout spots like CP – the commute would have been too long. If you talk about college fun, all I think of are the long drives I used to go on with my friends on Delhi’s roads. After classes, we would spend the evenings and nights in Hauz Khas Village or even Cyber Hub. We also had more discreet hangouts like the Ridge, which was perfect for our long drives.
So when you meet your friends on Delhi visits, do you try and recreate that?
A few months ago, when I was in Delhi and my friends and I got together, we tried to recreate our college memories, but it wasn’t the same. I think it changes a bit once you move out of college because everyone gets busy with something or the other.
What’s the one thing you miss about Delhi now that you live in Mumbai?
Living in Mumbai is different because my whole life has changed now, as I’m no longer in a nine-to-five job. Having said that, I miss Dilli ki sardi now. I came to Delhi for a few days in the winter and fell sick, but even then, I still miss it because in Mumbai, it gets boring to have consistent weather all year round. Plus, I can’t explore the winter fashion in Mumbai due to the weather – all the coats and jackets.
Now that you have moved from being a part of the audience to being the star on stage, what’s the biggest high you get from that?
The biggest high is when I get to know how my parents are treated in the city now because of my success. There have been occasions where my dad was addressed as ‘Aditi’s father’ in his circle and you can see the pride he feels because his little girl is all grown up now.