What if I told you that the best way to take control of your life was to lose control over it? There comes a point in every person's life, when we are presented with a moment that could potentially transform our lives and change its course forever. Not so long ago, my life was presented with one such sliding-door moment. It was right in front of me, this new life, the door was wide open, and all I had to do was walk through it. But the minute I walked through that door, the door shut behind me. Let me take you back a little bit. Well, growing up, I was a shy, curious child, and I loved asking questions within the confines of my head.

I wanted to know what it would feel like to somersault into a freezing pool, what it was like to drive a car then before I could learn to ride a bike, what everybody around me was reading or listening to.

In a dynamic world of friends, activities, and actions, I was never in an unfamiliar environment, which helped me build that confidence to speak up more. However, it still meant that many opportunities were missed.

And every time I found myself in a high stakes situation, I chose to pass. I chose comfort or following the path very much in line with my parents' ambition. The path was logical, and it was beautiful in its own way. It was filled with everything that I liked and wanted.

I balanced arts academics, went on to study my computer science engineering, and then worked at a financial software firm. The familiarity of my world was my safe freedom. It helped me form deep, meaningful relationships. It helped me excel academically. And over time, I became a low confident speaker and less uncomfortable with the attention. Still, I wasn't as happy because this comfort was constantly in conflict with my inner child and my curiosity.

It was in conflict with my inner desire to break away from expectations. And chase that feeling to help grow, help and learn. This conflict brought several movements of confusion and anxiety about which I still face to do. But whenever I find myself confused, I love talking to the universe. I love putting out questions for the word to hear. Sometimes I get a reply and sometimes I don't, but whenever the universe does give her reply, she can give a good surprise. Every once in a while, this surprise comes to you in the form of an important decision you must take — a sliding-door moment where you can see something incredible on the other side of this glass, but you don't know how to get there, or whether you can successfully make it.

At this point, you just have to decide whether you want to walk through this door, because when you do, you are walking away from a life that is completely different from the one that you're walking into. I think that in life, everything that you do, every action that you do, every decision that you need leads you to one monumental movement.

And in my case, it was Miss India, because on one side, I had my perfectly secure private life, filled with friends and familiarity. And on the other side, it was the exact opposite with the immensely public, unfamiliar, larger-than-life life. Miss India to me meant lifting myself out of my bubble and exposing myself to opportunities.

My dreams meant going beyond the person that I am — beyond my job, my routine, and my loved ones. How do you choose between a life that you love and the one that you've just lived on the other side? The new life was filled with creativity and responsibility. It represented, not just a crown, but growth opportunities and new ways to achieve things.

And so, it wasn't difficult to decide that I would make this my mission. What was difficult instead was the work that followed after. The courage I needed to build in order to embark on this mission, the courage needed to convince my conservative family that this is what I wanted to do with my. The courage needed to make my awkward self feel comfortable in front of a camera and millions of strangers.

I believe the best way to build your courage is by putting yourself in uncomfortable situations, whether it's pushing yourself to be on stage lifting that heavy weight in the gym, confronting your bully, or even asking your crush out on that date. I think every situation helps me grow and I think it's almost a series of uncomfortable situations that helped me grow.

And the more courage that I found, the more dedicated I became to my mission. So much so that I turned into a mad passionate woman in my family's eyes, because I would spend hours together practising in front of the mirror, practising walking, tackling all these imaginary scenarios in my head and exploring my purpose. At the end of the day, we all pick up battles and looking back, I feel like this was the most important battle that I picked.

What's interesting about sliding doors is that you can never truly tell what lies on the other side. It's about taking the chance, irrespective of the outcome for better or for worse. I will take that scholarship in a different country or you don't. Either become a Miss India or you don’t. Either you will walk through that sliding door or you won't. Everything would still be fine, now that I have made it through the sliding door and as I walk towards Miss World.

I considered it my responsibility as a Miss India and as a human being — to extend my freedom, my opportunities, and all of my learnings to as many people as possible. In a nutshell, life comes in these unannounced sliding doors, which can set you on the path to new experiences in relationships.

Either you choose to lean on it and get curious, or you walk away. You decide!