Twenty-three year old Manasa Varanasi, from Telangana was announced the winner of the VLCC Femina Miss India World 2020 on Wednesday. Manasa was crowned by her predecessor Suman Ratan Singh Rao from Rajasthan.
Manasa has been a resident of Hyderabad for the past 8 years of living and growing with the city. She studied at the Vasavi College of Engineering, Hyderabad, and is currently working as a financial information exchange analyst at a financial firm.
The young beauty will now represent India at the 70th Miss World beauty pageant in December 2021.
Manasa enjoys exploring the world of finance. Apart from this, her interests lie in reading books, dance, yoga and nature. According to Miss India, while growing up, Manasa was a shy child and thus always preferred to express herself through Bharatanatyam and music.
She finds her mother, grandmother and younger sister the three most influential people in her life. Apart from the women in her life, the 23-year-old takes inspiration from Priyanka Chopra, who is also the winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant.
In an interview, she said, "Out of all the beauty queens, Priyanka Chopra really stands out for me because she's an explorer - she has always chosen to push her boundaries and made her mark in various spaces - music, movies, entrepreneurship, social work and the list goes on. Also, as a shy kid who tried to make herself heard, I always looked up to Priyanka for the outspoken badass that she was. It's her versatility and strength that I draw inspiration from."
Manasa defeated a total of 14 other contestants from different states to bag the coveted title. While Haryana's Manika Sheokand was declared Miss Grand India 2020 and Uttar Pradesh's Manya Singh was crowned Miss India 2020 runner-up.
The Miss India jury panel consisted of actors such as Neha Dhupia, Chitrangada Singh, Pulkit Samrat, and renowned designer duo, Falguni and Shane Peacock.
Also read: Meet Shaine Soni who Braved the Social Stigma at Home to Get Crowned Miss Transqueen India 2020
(Edited by Anju Narayanan)
