SEE: When Sushmita won Miss Universe in 1994

Sushmita Sen remembers winning Miss Universe in 1994 and her exciting journey over the years.

Sushmita Sen won Miss Universe pageant in 1994.

The actor model is looking back at the event 26 years later with a lot of goodness and gratitude.

Sen was just 18 years old when she became the first Indian woman to win the coveted beauty pageant.

On Thursday, the actor shared a video on her official Instagram page that featured pictures from her journey, childhood, the pageantry, and life thereafter.

"A princess with a crown and a queen of people's hearts..for 26 years! What a magical fairy tale I have lived, where beauty is God's handwriting, character is self realised, all of it in a loving universe that is inclusive, abundant filled with empathy, compassion, gratitude and so much goodness of good people," the actor wrote.

Sen, 44, said winning Miss Universe will always remain special to her.

"I celebrate you and I celebrate with you! India won Miss Universe for the first time this day in 1994. It will forever remain my life's greatest pride and honour to be the face of history for my country...," she added.

The actor posted a video on her Instagram thanking all the people who supported her during this journey.

'#26thanniversary #missuniverse1994 #indiasfirst Thank you all for making 'my Universe a better place'...your love has always been my greatest strength!!! I love you guys!!!' the actor captioned the video below where she describes what the journey meant for her.

What makes Sen's win so special is that she never aspired to be a model or an actor.

She was spotted at a night club by Ranjan Bakshi, then a senior manager with the Times of India Group, Femina's former editor Sathya Saran told Rediff.com (Read all about that here).

Post her win at the Miss Universe event, Sen made her Bollywood debut with Mahesh Bhatt's 1996 movie Dastak. Over the years, she has appeared in Biwi No 1, Zor, Aankhen, Main Hoon Na and Bewafaa.

With inputs from PTI