Yukta Mookhey

Biography

Yukta Inderlal Mookhey is an Indian civic activist and the winner of Miss World 1999 pageant. She is the fourth Indian woman to win Miss World and was previously crowned as Femina Miss India World in 1999. She is a former model and actress, and has worked in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu films.

== Early life == Mookhey was born in Mulund in a Sindhi family and was raised in Dubai until Mookhey was seven years of age. Her family moved back to Mumbai in June 1986. Her mother Aroona used to run a grooming saloon in Santa Cruz, Mumbai and her father, Inderlal Mookhey was a former Managing Director of a clothing company. After school, she studied zoology at the V. G. Vaze College in Mumbai. She has a diploma in computer sciences from Aptech and has studied Hindustani classical music for three years.

== Pageantry ==

=== Femina Miss India === In 1999, Mookhey entered herself into the Femina Miss India contest, where she was shortlisted as a contestant. In the semifinal round during the grand finale, she was asked a question by judge Viv Richards - "How do you define a true sports person?", to which she answered:

"I would define a true sports person as the one who welcomes defeat as well as success with a healthy attitude and with a smile." Mookhey proceeded to the succeeding round, where all her fellow Top 5 delegates were asked the same question - “In the context of the recent controversy, if you were Chelsea Clinton, what is the single most important advice, you as a daughter would you give to your parents Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, and why?”, to which she answered:

"If I was Chelsea Clinton, I would tell my parents that in the values that you have taught me, I still stand by you no matter what. And I hope we can set an example for the rest of the world to see what family values and ethics are all about. Thank you." At the end of the event, she was crowned as Miss India World 1999 by the outgoing titleholder Annie Thomas, giving her the right to represent India at the Miss World 1999 contest.

=== Miss World === The 49th edition of the Miss World pageant was held on 4 December 1999 at Olympia, London and 93 delegates from around the world competed for the title. During the pageant's question and answer round, she was asked if she could be anyone in the world who would she want to be. Mookhey replied - “It would have to be Audrey Hepburn. It was her inner beauty, compassion and her aura. The calm that she had inside her reflected.” At the end of the event, Mookhey was crowned as Miss World 1999 by her predecessor Linor Abargil from Israel. The first runner-up title was won by Martina Thorogood from Venezuela, followed by the second runner-up, Sonia Raciti of South Africa. Mookhey also won the Asia & Oceania's Queen of Beauty Award during the Miss World contest. Mookhey became the fourth woman from India to win Miss World after Reita Faria in 1966, Aishwarya Rai in 1994 and Diana Hayden in 1997.

== Social works == After Mookhey's tenure as Miss World, she involved herself in various social and charitable causes. She has worked for the people affected by HIV/AIDS, breast cancer and thalassemia. Mookhey has pledged to donate her organs. In connection with this, she stated, “This step will benefit someone, once I leave this world”. She also works as an educationist and provides motivational counselling in various platforms. She partnered with an NGO to guide young girls from the slums, nudging them towards self-contemplation, understanding their needs and help them to become aware of their bodies, through counseling. She has voiced against illegal child labour carried out in India's firecracker industries, which is an offence under the Indian law. She has also aided the people with hearing impairment, from marginalised and low-income segment of the society. She expressed - “I have spent my time learning the Indian sign language because I feel that hearing impaired people have so much latent creativity and are hampered only by their inability to communicate. I would like to help them by drawing attention to this issue.”