When
beauty dazzles
Two women; beautiful, talented, vivacious and kind-hearted,
who come from neighbouring India and hold Femina titles. Vidushi
Seneviratne talks to Femina Miss India for Miss Universe, Amrita
Thapar and Femina Miss India for Miss World, Sindhura Gadde. Mirror
photographer Mettasena was there to capture the moment
As the tall beauties walked across the room towards us, heads definitely
turned. Confidence and modesty, their most obvious qualities, were
visible even at a distance…
Meeting
with the two elegant Femina Miss Indias last week was a pleasant
encounter right from the start. Flying down to Sri Lanka for the
installation of the President of the Rotary Colombo East, their
stay though short, seemed to have been a fulfilling experience for
both young women.
Sindhura
Gadde (20), chosen as Femina Miss India for Miss World and Amrita
Thapar (23), adjudged Femina Miss India for Miss Universe, undeniably
define beauty in more than one way. Oozing with life and energy,
the professional training they had received throughout their careers
showed very clearly in the way they handled themselves.
From
science to pageant
Speaking to Sindhura, the first thing that strikes you is her spirit,
which literally emanates from within. Originally from Vijayawada
in Andhra Pradesh, she received her primary education there, but
moved with her family to New Zealand at the age of eleven. “Coming
from more of a science-based background, I too pursued my studies
in that area, and I have a double degree in Pharmacology and Physiology,”
says Sindhura, adding that she has an advanced diploma in modelling
as well.
Trying
her hand in the electronic media as well, Sidhura hosted a music
video show called ‘Desi Hungama’, as a VJ on Z TV, an
Indian channel in New Zealand. “I was also a news reader and
reporter for TVNZ, and later went into event management and other
related areas. Apart from these sorts of work, I used to teach Korean
children subjects such as English and mathematics, which I found
very interesting,” she said, talking us through her colourful
career.
“Though
I was comfortable in the modelling scene in New Zealand, I felt
that I needed to identify and evolve in the best market for myself,
which was essentially the Indian market. And the best way to enter
it would be the Femina Miss India competition,” she says,
explaining how she got interested in competing for the title. With
numerous expectations in her mind, Sindhura felt that a title would
mean a lot when it came to actualising her plans. “You can
do a lot of good as a normal person, but a title gives that extra
edge, and enables you to achieve so many things. For example, after
becoming Femina Miss India about three or four months ago, I have
been able to get involved in numerous charity projects such as the
cancer hospitals of Andhra Pradesh, with visually handicapped individuals
in Hyderabad, and the SKCV kids’ village in Vijayawada,”
she says.
The
travel bug
Speaking of the perks of winning such a title, Sindhura describes
how she has been travelling immensely in the past few weeks, in
countries she has never visited before, as well as within India,
in areas totally foreign to her. “I’ve been greatly
taken up by the fact that I’ve got to know various other cultures
in my own country, thanks to all the travelling I’ve done.
India in itself, with its various languages, religions and cultures,
is like a different world, and it’s a great privilege to be
able to travel across the sub-continent and see so much. I feel
that this exposure will be a strong point for me at the Miss World
competition,” she says, speaking of the pageant set to be
held in Sanya, China.
Charity
matters
According to her, the Miss World organisers have set aside two hundred
and fifty million US dollars solely for charities, and the chosen
Miss World gets to hand-deliver this money to the deserving. “If
I do have the privilege of winning this prestigious title, my main
focus will be to raise awareness, especially regarding children,
in the area of health and hygiene,” she says, adding that
too many people die of diseases brought about due to simple ignorance
in these areas, and feels that this problem cannot be overcome by
one politician or activist on his/her own, and needs to be more
of a community effort.
Time
to train
So what sort of training goes into the preparation of a pageant?
“During the Femina Miss India competition, all the contestants
had 12 experts working on us on areas such as skin, teeth (smile),
voice modulation, hair, speaking skills and communication. When
preparing for the Miss World competition, since all of these experts
will be working on just one person, the entire procedure will be
more concentrated. About two months before the competition, you
will see me running around, since everything will be extremely hectic,
from the workouts to every other aspect of the training,”
she says smiling.
Fun
stuff
Sindhura, typically an adventurous girl, she has attempted sky diving,
and has jumped out of a plane from a height of about 10,000 feet
on two occasions and has also tried bungee jumping and snow board
activities. “I just love anything to do with an adrenaline
rush!” she says, triumphantly. She mentiones her royal green
Volkswagon station wagon, Passat with much love; it is obvious that
she loves cruising around in it. Enjoying Thelengu, Hindi and English
movies, Sindhura is more of a lover of jazz music, but also enjoys
dance and trance music.
“Enjoy
whatever you’re doing,” is her advice for aspiring young
women in the field. “Success is contentment, and you define
success on your own. To dream whatever you want to dream is the
ability of the human mind. To do whatever you want to do is the
ability of the human will, so dream – that’s all you
need to do!” she says, eyes dancing with spirit.
Against
the norm
Tall and elegant Amrita Thapar, originally from Pune, comes from
a military background, and has two sisters, one older and one younger.
Catching me observing her light blue-grey eyes and creamy white
skin, she immediately answeres my queries with a smile and an explanation,
“I am a Punjabi.” Going onto explain that many people
have asked her about her not-so Asian looks, she sees it as a blessing
in disguise. “Actually, I like the fact that I break the stereotype.
It has helped me enter domains, which I didn’t think was possible,”
she says.
She holds a post graduate degree diploma in Fashion Designing from
the School of Fashion Designing, and also a computer diploma in
fashion designing. She has also done fashion writing for Femina,
and been involved with corporate wear. “Since I was a little
girl, I’ve always liked colours and garments and basically
anything creative. I used to cut up my mum’s sarees, and conjure
my own little creations,” she says, explaining her interest
in the field. Being creatively inclined, Amrita enjoys working on
fabrics and bringing out their colour and form. “I love sketching
in various mediums such as charcoal, pastels and so on.”
The
spiritual aspect
Being a typical Gemini, her personality is dually faceted, with
her being extremely interested in spirituality, and aspects such
as yoga, and also in reading; one of her favourite authors being
Deepak Chopra. But on the contrary, she is also a typical outdoor
girl, and enjoys mountaineering, kick boxing and Taebo, where she
gets to develop her cardio vascular areas. “Nature, art and
creativity really are a huge part of my life,” she says, summing
up her interests.
Pageant
life
Her modelling experience consists of the Miss Pune Beauty title,
May Queen and involvements in a few music videos with artistes such
as Hari Haran and Pankaja Das, and also a few print advertisements.
Speaking of the Femina Miss India competition held in March this
year, Amrita explains that the experience was awesome. “The
feeling I had when I won, and when my parents told me how proud
they were of me, was great. Also, my father told me that I had made
them not miss not having a son, and that is a huge compliment coming
from my father, being in the military and all!” she says,
smiling.
Having
represented India at the Miss Universe competition held in Bangkok,
Thailand, recently, she spoke of the experience of meeting 81 other
girls from around the world as extremely fulfilling. “Myself
and Rozanne Diaz, who represented Sri Lanka, got on like a house
on fire, probably because both of us are in the field of fashion
designing,” she adds. For Amrita, preparation for a pageant
is mainly about getting your thoughts in order. “Beauty essentially
comes from within. Beautiful thoughts are extremely important when
it comes to making a person beautiful.”
Thinking of the less fortunate
She too, like Sindhura, believes that your voice reaches out much
further, along with a title such as this. “You can do so much
more for people in need, when you have such a title to give you
that extra push. I worked with numerous charities, such as the Cancer
Foundation of Jaipur and the Maha Veer Cancer Foundation.”
Having started this sort of work at least five years ago, way before
she won the Femina Miss India title, Amrita has also tried to help
out with the stray animal problem. “I always tell people that
the love and affection they would receive from a pedigree and a
stray dog is the same.” Having worked with Green Thumb, an
environmental organisation, she was also involved in projects such
the banning of plastic bags.
Power of positivity
Amrita is lover of acoustic, jazz and any sort of soft
music, but enjoys dance music too, depending on her mood. For her,
one’s reaction to a situation makes it a success or a failure.
“Positive thinking plays a huge part in making someone successful,”
she says, adding that she is a very positive thinker herself. “In
any situation, however bad it looks, I always try to identify a
positive way in which to look at it. It makes life so much easier!”
she says, making it all seem really very simple. |
