HYDERABAD, NOV 23: For residents of Keshav Nagar in the Mettuguda area of Secunderabad, it was a proud moment when they learnt that the `tomboy' of their locality had become Miss World. As soon as the news of Diana Hayden being crowned in Seychelles spread, the residents burst crackers and plunged into spontaneous celebrations.

Even as Aubrey Hayden, Diana's father, was recording the telecast of the Miss World show last night, he was confident that his daughter would make it to the top.

Speaking to The Indian Express this evening, the overjoyed father said, ``She is a beautiful, affectionate and loving girl. I was sure she would achieve it and I am proud of her.''

Since last night, it has been an endless round of drinking and dancing for Hayden, his friends and relatives. Aubrey who refers to Diana affectionately as `Dimple' misses his daughter all the more now. ``Dimple called me from Bombay before going to Seychelles. I prayed for her and asked her to go ahead. I told her I was sure of her being crowned,'' Hayden said. Diana completed her schooling at St Ann's here. She loves books and music. ``She will not leave a book until she completes it. She is a sort of book-worm,'' her father gushes.

Aubrey Hayden runs a PCO and a small school in the locality. Diana's elder brother Shane Hayden is an interior decorator and lives in Mumbai. Shane and his mother accompanied Diana to Seychelles.

Diana's neighbour Merlyn, a receptionist in a pharmaceutical firm says Diana deserves the crown. She is a wonderful girl and has a great complexion. ``Once she won the Miss India crown, we were confident that her ascent to Miss World would be smooth.''

Diana comes from a family of modest means. Her father could not afford to take many pictures of her as a child. He went to the Gulf, where he worked as a plumber. An accident in the eighties left him disabled forcing Diana to move to Mumbai where she stayed with her aunt.

Circumstances like these could have unsettled any girl, but Diana, recollects Merlyn, fought hard to climb the pinnacle of success.

Diana has a passion for music and plays the piano -- apparently quite well, if the certificate from the Trinity College of Music, London, is anything to go by. She is also a good dancer. With her father, who won the Mr Hyderabad award for dancing, she never missed Christmas and New Year balls hosted in the city.

Aubrey Hayden says that he has not been able to contact his daughter after the crowning. ``They might have tried to call me. But my telephone booth was too busy receiving congratulation calls.''