From Miss India to Army Officer: Kashish Methwani’s Inspiring Journey

From the glittering runway to the parade ground, Kashish Methwani’s journey is a powerful reminder that you don’t have to choose just one dream. The Pune-based 24-year-old, who was crowned Miss International India in 2023, has now traded her crown for an officer’s cap, having been commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Indian Army.

For Kashish, the beauty pageant wasn’t her ultimate goal; it was simply an item on her bucket list. Even as she turned down modeling offers, her true calling was always the disciplined life of the armed forces. “I wanted to be Miss India and a scientist and an officer. I didn’t want to pick one field,” she explained in a TEDx talk.

Her incredible journey is backed by a brilliant academic mind, with Master’s degrees from Savitribai Phule Pune University and the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. She was even selected for a PhD at Harvard University but chose to serve her country instead.

So, how did a beauty queen become an army officer? The spark was ignited during her time in the National Cadet Corps (NCC), where she was awarded the All India Best Cadet Trophy by the Prime Minister in 2021. That experience ingrained in her a sense of discipline, leadership, and time management that would define her path.

She then secured an impressive All India Rank of 2 in the 2024 Combined Defence Services (CDS) examination, earning her a spot at the Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai. True to her multifaceted nature, she excelled there too, winning medals in debates, sports, and shooting. She opted for the technically demanding Army Air Defence (AAD) wing and was awarded the AAD Medal, the highest order of merit for her corps.

Her family, though without a military background, always supported her diverse passions. Her mother, Shobha, recalls that from a young age, Kashish was determined to do everything, from being a national-level shooter and basketball player to a tabla player and founder of an NGO.

Kashish is open about having struggled with self-doubt and failure, urging others to ignore the “mean voice” in their heads. Her story isn’t about being the best at one thing; it’s about having the courage to pursue every passion with full dedication, proving that with resilience, you really can have it all.