Manasa Jonnalagadda has no pretense about herself. Softspoken yet confident and unapologetically herself, she is the new kid on the glamour block. Manasa is your regular 20-year-old with a not so regular portfolio. Straight A student, Head Girl in school and crowned Miss GITAM in GITAM College where she is currently studying 3rd year ECE, Manasa now also flaunts the crown as Miss India Asia Pacific. “I am thrilled! I am still digesting everything that happened,” she chuckles when asked about how she has been taking the new title.
When Worlds Collide
Manasa spent her childhood in the United States of America and as a teenager was transported back to Hyderabad when her parents migrated. And for young Manasa, the switch was quite jarring. “It was quite a culture shock for me when I shifted to Hyderabad. It took me over a year to understand and adjust to the stark difference of the mindsets between the US and back home,” she shares. But she also admits that both her homes had their own challenges.
Just another teenager
As any young girl does, Manasa, a beauty queen too was burdened by insecurities. “I was extremely conscious about my weight growing up. But eventually I learnt that it doesnt matter how much you weigh or how much skin you show to be beautiful,” she explains. The pageant and the experience too was a learning curve for her she admits.
“Everyone who I was competing with were professional models while I was just someone who happened to make it to the Top 5 after enrolling as an afterthought. Before we went to Thailand for the finals I learnt a lot in training and from them - posing, smiling and worked on my personality.”
Everybody is beautiful
Manasa’s idea of fashion and glamour is unconventional. She says, “I wear both Indian and Western clothing equally. But I staunchly believe that you don’t have to show skin to look or feel beautiful. Same goes with body weight. As I have been there, I really think young girls shouldn’t starve themselves under the pressure of having a perfect body. Every body is as beautiful as they are on the inside.”
Ask her what her plans for the future are she admits, “I have been getting a lot of movie offers. But I am waiting for the perfect script with weight in character to get launched.” Manasa isn’t all about the glamour either. Her message to the world, as she apparently also mentioned in her pageant. “If I am able one day, I would want to provide shelters to orphans - they are children who didn’t choose that misfortune. Also anyone who has the financial ability should adopt as there are enough kids in the world who aren’t fortunate enough to have a loving home,” she says signing off.
