Beauty seems to be the convergence of the world into one idea. While the Miss World pageant is being held in India, Keralite Meera Sankam Mathew is striving for her dream title of Miss America. She had previously won the prestigious Miss India New York 2022 crown and had gained attention within the Indian community in the US. Meera hails from Kaipattur, Pathanamthitta and currently resides in Staten Island, New York. She is the daughter of John Matthew and Raji.
John Matthew works in the New York Police Department’s Traffic Division. Meera’s sister Tara Mathew is a student. Meera Mathew was born in Kaipattur and she migrated to the United States at the age of three. Following the Miss New York award, Meera competed in the Miss India Worldwide pageant, a prestigious event for people of Indian descent living outside India, where she placed in the top five.
Meera is currently preparing for the prestigious Miss America pageant. This year’s first round is scheduled for the end of the year. If she wins, she will become the second Indian athlete to win the title after Neena Davouri (2014). Meera has already won the title of Miss Staten Island, making her the first South Asian to win this honor since 1939.
Despite her demanding work schedule and demanding daily routine, Meera finds time to pursue her hobbies such as modeling, participating in beauty pageants, and dancing. Most of the preparations for the Miss India New York beauty pageant were done by her alone. An important part of her preparation included watching numerous videos related to beauty pageants to gain her insight and knowledge.
Meera follows in the footsteps of famous beauty queens like Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen, who started their foray into global beauty platforms in 1994, and went on to win various titles such as Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss India USA, Miss India New York, etc. I watched videos of beauty pageants avidly. Meera understood the situation well, absorbed lessons and insights from the experiences of past winners, and understood the nuances. She adapted those learnings to her own preparation strategy.
Renuka Joseph is the only Keralite to win the Miss India New York 2018 pageant. There is also Stacey Isaac, a Malayali who won the Miss India USA title representing Florida in 2001. Meera aspired to become a police officer since her school days. She continued to pursue this dream throughout her childhood and after high school.
She realized that the IT field would give her more time to pursue her dreams, so she decided to move into the field. Nevertheless, she joined the American Malayali Law Enforcement Federation, an association of Malayalee members of various law enforcement agencies in the United States.
Acting in Indian films, especially South Indian ones, is one of Meera’s big aspirations. Meera loves Malayalam movies, especially the comedy genre. She is a fan of films like ‘Punjabi Her House’, ‘Drishyam’ and ‘Kurukshetra’. She also said that Meera has a dream of becoming a model in Kerala.