Desi Galaxy

Aishwarya Rai the heart throbe of Millions all over the world was born on November 1st 1973 to a middle-class family in Banglore (now Mangalore) in the state of Karnataka. Her father, Krishnaraj Rai was a merchant navy officer who moved to Bombay when Aishwarya was only three years old. Her mother, Brindya Rai was a typical Indian housewife. Raised in a typical strict Indian middle-class family environment, Aishwarya is incredibly smart and deeply traditional. During her school live she proved her smartness by earning higher grades. She did her schooling at Arya Vidya Mandir, Santacruz. After matriculation she enrolled into DG Ruparel College, Matunga, Bombay where her favorite subject was Zoology. She wanted to begin a career in medicine but later she changed her mind after earning 90% marks in her HSC exams. She then changed her career path and joined Raheja College. At that point she started doing modelling as a part time job, but the offers started pouring all over and she decided to give architecture a break and concentrate on modelling.

In the year 1994, she took part in Famina Miss India beauty peagent and was crowned Miss India 1994. She then got the prestigious Miss World crown at Sun City. On her way back home, with crown on her head, she was recieved by thousands of Indians at the airport and lined the streets around her horse driven cavalcade. She told in an interview :

No matter how euphoric the victory was, I could not wait to return home. London was cold and grey in January, and I wondered how I would spend the next ten months away from India. It was a physically and emotionally exhausting year, no two ways about, because you have to be aware and alert all the time. After all, though I was presenting myself as an ambassador for the world, I did want to leave an impression as an Indian. Britishers have heard tales of India from their grandparents and their picture of India is still shaped by these stories: India has this sarkar system, you have trees from which you can pluck fruits and tigers roaming around you. I was hysterical when I heard it. They couldn’t believe I was educated in India. They couldn’t even believe that we have English-medium schools in cities!

About her career change, she told:

I was unable to continue studying in India because quite honestly, the circumstances were not the same. I was no longer perceived as a “normal” or regular student. For my peers and professors, I was Aishwarya Rai - the personality. I saw this when I was felicitated sweetly by my college. In the environment, I don’t think I would have been comfortable as a student. I’ve chosen films because people suggested that I could try it out for a year and if I didn’t enjoy the experience I could always pack my bags and go overseas to study further.

To be Continued…

Sources:
Aishwarya Rai - Wikipedia
Aiswarya Rai’s world - Know More About Aishwarya
Why Aishwarya will never be a star in United States