IMAGE: Manasa Varanasi flanked by Miss Grand India
2020 Manika Sheokand, left, and Miss India 2020 runner-up Manya Singh, right. Photograph:
Kind courtesy Femina Miss India/Instagram
An analyst with a financial
firm, Manasa Varanasi was crowned VLCC Femina Miss India World 2020 last week.
Standing tall at 5 feet 8
inches, gorgeous Manasa also won the Miss Rampwalk title at the pageant.
Manasa completed her
schooling from Kuala Lumpur's Global Indian School and later did her graduation
from the Vasavi College of Engineering in Hyderabad.
"I feel gratitude and
I'm very motivated to use my title for good," Manasa told soon after
winning the title.
"No achievement comes
without discipline, effort and sacrifice."
As for placing Telangana on
the world map post her win, she added, "I'm grateful to give back
something to the state that has made me who I am."
"My parents weren't initially enthusiastic about
this ambition of mine. So, I had to continue to balance work and
preparation."
Revealing
her future plans, she shared, "A big focus will be my social work project,
which is at the heart of Miss World.
"I
will have to balance that with continued work on my ramp walk.
"Of
course, I also plan on spending a lot of time getting the right wardrobe and
styling in place."
Here's
presenting five things you should know about Miss India 2020 Manasa Varanasi.
1.
Her most important asset
IMAGE: Manasa poses for her mother who took this
pic. Photographs: Kind courtesy Manasa Varanasi/Instagram
"It's my sense of
perspective," she says.
An advocate of equitable
education for all, Manasa is not a huge fan of social media.
A trained Bharata Natyam
dancer, her interests include reading, music, dance and yoga.
2. She has trained
in Indian sign language
IMAGE: The beauty queen loves to travel. This pic
was taken during a trip to Delhi.
Manasa started learning
sign language because of her curiosity.
'Over time, as I started
listening with my eyes, I started understanding the beauty of deaf culture,'
she revealed in a video on Instagram.
'I hope we all work together in making society more inclusive for the deaf community.'
3. Some of her favourite
things are...
IMAGE: She loves to talk to animals and plants.
Sunshine, denims and boots.
She loves to sing
Queen's We Are The Champions in the shower, and her favourite
series is The Office.
4. Her best accessory is her smile
IMAGE: A throwback pic from her engineering days. Manasa, third from left, got interested in beauty pageants after she won a
beauty contest in college.
"People who smile at
you when you make eye contact with them have always been my favourite kind of
people," she shares.
"Sharing a smile might
not have the power to change the world, but it sure does have the power to change
someone's world."
"So go ahead, shoot
somebody a smile, spread love by a mile," she advises.
5. She is a huge
fan of American poet Mary Oliver
From sharing poems to being inspired by her quotes, Manasa is a huge fan of Pulitzer Prize-inning poet Mary Oliver.
Oliver draws inspiration
from wild landscapes and her poem I Go Down To The Shore has
often lifted the beauty queen's spirits when she feels low.
'It is one of my favourite
poems to revisit when I'm feeling blue and need to remind myself about the
smallness of my worries in the greatness of the natural world,' Manasa writes.