Miss America, Nina Davuluri, has her roots in Vijayawada

The 24-year-old Miss New York is the first contestant of Indian origin to become Miss America

VIJAYAWADA: Nina Davuluri was on Sunday night crowned Miss America-2013 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The 24-year-old Miss New York is the first contestant of Indian origin to become Miss America. Nina's family hails from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and the city is busy celebrating Nina's victory. Her maternal grandmother V Koteshwaramma, who runs the Montessori group of institutions was elated at her grand daughter's feat. Her mother Shiela Ranjani and her father Koteswara Chowdhary, both of whom are doctors, had migrated to the US in the early 80s and Nina was born and brought up in America.

Soon after the news of her being crowned broke early in the morning, the girl students at Montessori Mahila Kalasala celebrated her success. "I am not surprised. She is a dedicated person and I was always confident that she would go places," Koteswaramma said. The proud grandmother's residence at Moghalrajapuram wore a festive look on Monday morning as it was packed with visitors and family friends who had come to congratulate Nina's grandmother.

Nina grew up in a family of doctors. Apart from her parents, her maternal aunt and uncle are also doctors and so is her elder sister Meena, who is studying medicine in the US. Her paternal uncles are also doctors in the US. "In fact, Nina also wanted to pursue medicine and wanted to become a cardiologist. However, she has ended up winning the Miss America title," Koteswaramma said. According to her, Nina is a fan of Telugu films and Telugu culture and is trained in Kuchipudi and Bharatha Natyam.

Nina's father Koteswara Chowdary shifted to the US soon after his marriage in 1981 and went on to become a gynaecologist. Nina's mother Sheila Ranjani is continuing on the board of Montessori Kalasala as vice-president and visits the city at least once in two years. Nina herself came down to the city in 2007, soon after becoming first runners-up in Miss America's Miss Teen contest. However, except for Koteswaramma's close family circle, a very few in the city had heard of Nina till she was crowned Miss America. Recalling how her granddaughter struggled before achieving this success, Koteswaramma said Nina had to overcome two obstacles - asthma and obesity. "I can only say that Nina will not stop here," she said.

Nina was born at Syracuse in US but the family moved to Oklahoma when she was four and from there to Michigan in 2000. Nina's family is now residing in Fayetteville, where her father Koteswara Chowdary is a gynaecologist at St Joseph's Hospital. Nina is a graduate of brain behaviour and cognitive science from Michigan University. Earlier, a Vijayawada girl, Gadde Sindhoora had won the 'Femina Miss India' title and reached the Miss World semi-finals in 2005.