Who Is Manasa Varanasi, The Telugu Girl Who Won Miss India 2021: Check Unknown Facts
'Mana Telugu Ammayi'-Manasa Varanasi, from Hyderabad, and Miss Telangana who was crowned the winner of VLCC Femina Miss India World 2020 recently, will represent the country at the Miss World 2020 pageant in December this year.
Manasa (23) is a classic example of the adage, beauty with brains. Not only is she beautiful, this 5 foot 9 inch tall lady is a Computer Science graduate and works with FactSet as a FIX( financial information exchange) analyst.
Manasa who completed her schooling from Global Indian International School in Malaysia due to her father working there, completed her Intermediate at FIITJEE and pursued engineering further.
She was a shy child as she mentioned in an interview earlier, but took keen interest in Bharatnatyam and music to express herself. Her interests include reading, yoga, music and staring at the sky. Even during her college days she used to participate in pageants and started focusing on modelling when she was 21.
Coming from a conservative Telugu family, Manasa earlier said that though her parents had reservations about her taking part in beauty pageant, they later accepted her decision. She said that her grandmother was also not happy with her entering beauty pageants. However, over a period of time seeing her hard work and effort, they not only accepted, but also started supporting her.
Manasa stated that the three most influential people in her life are her mother Shailaja, grandmother (maternal) Garikapati Annapurna and sister Meghana Varanasi.
Manasa's grandmother, parents and sister Meghana
We, at Sakshi decided to meet them and her father Shivashankar at their residence in Himayath Nagar for a brief chat to know more about Manasa, and how they feel about her triumph at the Miss India virtual beauty pageant.
Speaking first Manasa's grandmother Annapurna said that, "Even though she is Miss India, she is my beloved granddaughter. I am 80 years old now and for me Manasa Varanasi means indescribable affection and I am very fond of her,'' she said.
Manasa with her grandmother G Annapurna (Image Source: Manasa Instagram)
Typically I would tease her and tell her to get married as she had come of age and would question her about her college activities and stage shows. We would have a lot of fun banter about this every day. I would be stern with her and at the same time make her favourite dishes, which is pesarattu, pulihora, fried rice and white rice. My joy at the moment Manasa won the Miss India crown knew no bounds and I immediately made a video call to her and wished her, she gushed.
Manasa's mother Shailaja Varanasi, while speaking said that,''We are a close-knit family from a humble background. Manasa, as a child, was different. She is proficient in Bharatanatyam, a talented swimmer and was very active at school programs including anchoring and other events. My daughter was always at the forefront whether as a dancer, swimmer, singer, artist or in book reading.
Childhood Pic of Manasa Varanasi with her mother Shailaja Varanasi
(Image Source: Manasa's Instagram)
She also dabbles in embroidery once in a while. If she wanted to do anything, she would not sleep until it was completed. Despite studying in Malaysia, she followed the culture and traditions of our country,'' her mother said.
Miss India Manasa Varanasi's parents Shailaja and Ravi Shankar said that they are proud that she won the Miss India title. Shailaja and Ravi Shankar hail from Thiruvoor in Krishna district and settled in the city in 1992. After that, Ravi Shankar worked as an electrical engineer in Malaysia. Manasa's school education was in the Global Indian International School in Brickfields. She completed her Intermediate in Hyderabad after they returned and she went on to pursue her BTech in Computer Sciences from Vasavi College of Engineering, here. Incidentally she was also the winner of the Miss Fresher title in her college as shared in a throwback picture in her Instagram account.
Manasa has also learnt the sign language out of sheer curiosity and to understand the '' beauty of deaf culture ,'' to make the society more inclusive for the differently-abled community, as she put in a statement in her social media account
Speaking about her hard work and efforts during the VLCC Femina Miss India pageant, Shailaja said that since it was held in a virtual venue, Manasa would wake up at 5.30 in the morning. She would write a diary on what to do throughout the day. She had herself designed all her dresses until the competitions started. She also learnt to put on her own makeup and would not take help from anyone at home. We are proud of her perseverance of being her own stylist, hair designer, and fashion designer in these competitions.
Speaking further Shailaja said that whenever she had time Manasa would teach Maths and English to the underprivileged children at Musheerabad Girls' School and at a Shelter Home in Kothi in the morning and I would drop her there. She served children for free in this manner for more than three years in an NGO. She does her own work at home and is very independent. She is a bit shy and enjoys spending time with her sister and few friends. Shailaja expressed confidence that Manasa would also win the coveted title in the Miss World Pageant and make the country proud.
Manasa's sister Meghana Varanasi
Manasa's sister Meghana said that she liked reading books from an early age and would read whenever she found time. Whenever they would have holidays, she would be reading novels during college days as well.
Meghna also said that in their free time both the sisters would watch cooking programmes on YouTube, and cook for their parents. She also revealed that Manasa was extremely fond of Chinese and Thai food, a fact that even Manasa's grandmother stated during her chat with us.
Like any siblings, Meghana said that the two sisters would fight over petty things. However we both are extremely close and love each other. During festivals and birthdays, we would exchange greeting cards. She would be extremely happy when I would send her a card with a message that said, ''The Best Sister for ever'', Meghna Varanasi said.
Manasa's friends Niharika and Manasvini
Manasa's besties Niharika and Manasvini said that she would share everything with them. They also revealed that she loved watching English films. We know the amount of hard work and effort Manasa put in for participating in the Beauty pageant. We were extremely happy for her when she won the prestigious title and wish her all the best for the next Miss World pageant they said while signing off.
Her family and friends are all excited on her homecoming as she is visiting the city on Wednesday after her winning the Miss India contest.
Also Read: Style File: Miss India Manasa Varanasi From Telangana
