Being crowned Miss Eco Teen 2022—an international pageant with a focus on raising awareness about environmental issues—that took place in Egypt earlier this month, remains a noteworthy moment for Cherisha Chanda. The 17-year-old who is based in Gurugram mentions she was on tenterhooks prior to the top-10 announcement, adding “I was nervous if I’d even be on that list given there were 25 countries participating in the show”.
However, when she made it, the only thing that was on her mind was “I have to win this for my country”. “Before the crowning moment on stage (after the runners-up were announced) when they said I won, I had tears in my eyes. It was this feeling of ‘I finally did it’,” shared Chanda, who is the first Indian to win the Eco Teen pageant.
It was after noticing an Instagram ad about Miss Teen Diva that Chanda was sure about giving the pageant a shot. “I was always excited to watch pageants; I’d watch it with my mother. I’ve thought about participating in one even as a kid.” Speaking to The Morning Standard about the finale, Chanda shared that the topic given to her for the final round was climate change.
Passionate about sustainable living and protecting and promoting awareness about the environment, Chanda—who has also raised Rs4L for charity as part of a Ketto campaign—added that pledging to tackle climate change is the need of the hour, “We are the cause of climate change, and we have to change it. Rising temperatures, melting glaciers, extinction of species… All these changes are because of us. We are the cause, and we have to change it. We need to make this decision not only for us; we need to change the world for the future generation.”
Apart from being passionate about the environment, Chanda enjoys dancing and playing tennis. “I love being a part of everything; I’d say I’m a very social person,” she laughs. Signing off by sharing that she always wanted to be a climate champion, she concluded, “By means of sustainable fashion, planting more trees, water harvesting… I’d like to do whatever I can for the environment. And there is no platform better than Miss Eco Teen to educate people about climate change.”