Finally it was time to go to Manila, Philippines for the Miss World 2017 contest. Everything was set & Shreya was all set to conquer the world. A day before leaving, she had a small chat with her mom. Her mom…her pillar of strength was positive about her win. She shared a few pearls of wisdom for her daughter. “Winning is not a must. Enjoy the process & don’t focus on the product. When you enjoy the process; success, fame & money will be a by product. You are given a platform which many others aspired. It is you who have to value the opportunities given & handle things. Fame comes with responsibility. Just go & live the precious moments of your life.”
Shreya reached Manila with her expert panel 2days prior to the event. Her parents reached the on the day of the contest. However her parents couldn’t meet her as participants had a different arrangement made. Aditya & Rani were proud parents. They were here to cheer her. The contest began on time @5pm. The International contest had a host of elimination rounds. Rani felt each girl was beautiful in their own right & expecting only Shreya to win was greed. Both of them were keeping their fingers crossed as elimination was announced. The final 10 was announced & Shreya was amongst them. She was wearing a ice blue halter neck backless gown. The gown was embellished in Swarovski crystals. The gown had a thigh high split & a deep neckline. The looks were accentuated with diamond bracelet with danglers; blue & white diamond chandelier earrings completed the look. She was very confident & one of the youngest participants. The gown; the jewellery; the foot wear; make up & hair do were just perfect accentuating her well toned body.
Finally at 11pm, Shreya owned the crown…. Yes she was crowned Miss World 2017. This moment was really special & surreal. Tears rolled down her eyes. She was all smiles. There were celebrations all over. Congratulatory messages couldn’t just stop beeping. It was a team effort & Shreya won the crown for India. Life was never the same for her.
The journey has just begun….
The phase after winning the crown was the real challenge. As per the rules one has to travel across the globe & visit more than 150 countries in a year. The winner has to wear her crown & title where ever she goes. The next 365 days of Shreya was filled with modelling assignments, product endorsement of the ones associated with the International pageant, visiting orphanages, working on social cause, being a goodwill ambassador & many more. She had to maintain the same weight & look pretty each moment. A girl who hardly looked herself into the mirror was now spending most of the time in front of it.