Manasa Varanasi, an engineer from Telangana was crowned Miss India 2020 on February 10, 2021. Miss India 2020 contest was held in Mumbai and was judged by Falguni Shane Peacock, Neha Dhupia, Chitrangada Singh and Pulkit Samrat. Aparshakti Khurana hosted the event. Manika Sheokand is Miss Grand India 2020, while Manya Singh is Miss India 2020 Runner-up.
Born in Hyderabad, Telangana, Manasa is a financial exchange analyst. Manasa, who completed her engineering degree from Vasavi College of Engineering, says that the women in her life — her mother, grandmother, and younger sister — are the three most influential people in her life.
The 23-year-old — who is inspired by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who is also a former Miss India winner — enjoys reading, listening to music, dancing, practising yoga, embroidering and travelling. A Bharatanatyam dancer, Manasa, whose favourite movies include Dead Poets Society, Interstellar and Andhadhun, is a bathroom singer. According to a note on her Instagram page, she enjoys singing Queen’s We Are the Champions while in the shower. In the note, she adds that tiramisu, fruit pudding and rasmalai are some of her favourite desserts.
Manasa is also trained in the Indian sign language. “I learned to sign because…learning makes me happy. When I started learning the language, it was mostly my curiosity driving me. However, over time, as I started listening with my eyes, I started understanding the beauty of deaf culture. I hope we all work together in making society more inclusive for the deaf community,” she stated on her social media handle.
Ahead of the grand finale, Varanasi shared what she had learned from her time at the pageant. “There are ups and downs in this industry but the most important thing is to keep self-belief,” she had said. Manasa, who was also declared Miss Ramp Walk, will now represent India in the 70th Miss World pageant in December 2021.
