Education closest to my heart, says Miss India
■ Will try and retain Miss World Crown: Vas
Anukreethy Vas from Tamil Nadu beat representatives from 29 other states to be crowned fbb Colors Femina Miss India 2018.
Her win is a historic moment for the southern state, which gets a Miss India winner for the first time since the pageant’s inception 55- years back.
The first runner- up is Meenakshi Chaudhary from Haryana and the second runner- up is Shreya Rao Kamavarapu from Andhra Pradesh.
Talking to this correspondent, the newly crowned winner says that the whole situation still feels a bit surreal to her.
“It is a landmark moment for me, both for winning the crown, and creating history for Tamil Nadu,” Vas explains.
Vas reveals that being a part of a pageant was never in the larger scheme of things for her. Having accompanied a friend as a moral support,
she was pleasantly surprised at being chosen, but winning the competition at the state level gave her some serious impetus to make it big in Miss India.
Winning the 55th Miss India competition puts Vas in a position where she can stand for a cause and make her point matter.
For the new Miss India, the cause closest to her heart is the education and betterment of the transgender community. On being asked about the reason behind the choice, Vas reveals, “As a child I had a friend in school who was a transgender and she was abandoned by her family. I tried searching for her a lot and even till today I have not been able to find her. I do not want that to happen to any other person.”
The young winner continues, “I already have an NGO that looks after the needs of 30 transgender people and now that I have a voice, I hope my voice will reach more people prompting them to come forward and stand by me for my cause.”
Elaborating that her future plans are concentrated only on Miss World, the 19- year- old adds, “I have a huge responsibility towards India. Manushi Chhillar brought back the crown after 17- years. I have to keep the blue crown back.”