- Kaziah Liz Mejo, 19, from Kerala was crowned Miss Universe India 2026 in Jaipur on August 23
- The event's grand finale was held at Zee Studios and a video of her winning moment went viral
- Finalists answered 20 questions in 90 minutes as part of the Miss Universe India competition
Kerala's 19-year-old Kaziah Liz Mejo has been crowned Miss Universe India 2026. The grand finale took place at Zee Studios in Jaipur on 23 August. A video from the event has since gone viral on social media, drawing attention to Kaziah's winning moment.
She was asked by Rajiv K. Shrivastava, founder of Act Now and Director of Social Projects at the Glamanand Group, "Can you describe the sound of silence in your life?"
Kaziah replied, "To me, silence, I believe, is what I experienced just a few minutes ago. The calm before I enter a stage. I was born and brought up on stage as a classical dancer, as an actor, and, of course, as a pageant lover."
She further added, "I fell in love with the world of pageants, with the stage, with the spotlight, having a microphone in my hand. But it seems difficult to believe, but I feel silence, and I feel calm, and I feel at my most peaceful self right before I enter a stage because I feel at home. To me, that is silence: when you feel at home, when your heart lets you take a deeper breath, when your pulse comes down, and you know that you belong. And that's exactly where I'm standing today, India."
According to Miss Universe India, the finalists were given 20 questions this year and had 90 minutes to write their answers.
Kaziah also shared what beauty truly means to her. She said, "To me, true beauty is about conviction; it's about courage, the silent decision to rise again and again and to believe before becoming. To me, being beautifully confident means being audacious."
"It means having the audacity to come back stronger again and again, to turn every fear, every failure, and every moment of weakness into unwavering strength and a burning fire within. It means leading with grace, speaking with intuition, and leaving every place and every person better than you found them," said Kaziah.
Also Read: Kerala's Kaziah Liz Mejo Crowned Miss Universe India 2026
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