HYDERABAD: When you are with Dr Tejaswini Manogna, don’t state the obvious. Telling her she looks beautiful will cut no ice. She has heard that a zillion times. Tell this 23-year-old you loved her confidence in beauty pageant rounds. Tell her you admire her agile body which she can effortlessly contort at the mention of poorna chakrasana. Compliment her ability to choreograph a one-hour concert for a diverse audience abroad all by herself.
She is bound to smile and even share the secret of how she manages it all – being a medical doctor (an MBBS graduate from Osmania Medical College, Class of 2017), fulltime yoga instructor (diploma holder), professional singer and dancer. Even as we speak, Miss Diva top six finalist has been invited to give a series of concerts and workshops for youngsters at Yorkshire, Feltham and Sheffield later in March and April. In between, she will also attend a doctor’s conference in London.
“I have represented Telangana in many world forums. The youngsters abroad are fascinated by my attitude and accomplishments and want to know how I crack it,” says the girl who has travelled to over seven countries including the US, Singapore and Sri Lanka and has represented India at the SAARC events too earlier this decade.
“How do you manage your time to do so much,” is one question she often faces. An early riser who is up by 4 am, she gets her academics done by 7 am and after an hour of yoga, she gets fully energised and ready to take on the world. Although she is prepping for her PG entrance now and hopes to crack the Civils eventually, right now she spends time giving inspiring speeches at campuses (from SREC to IITH), conducting Yoga classes for professional bodies like Police Academy etc.
This girl from a simple, middleclass family in Bagh Amberpet, Hyderabad, has always been a prodigy but has faced her share of lows too. From being rejected for finals of Best Cadet (which she eventually went on to win 2010) and being sent out of a privileged batch in a corporate college for poor attendance, she went on to secure a rank below 350 in EAMCET while studying at home all by herself. Tejaswini has had her share of failures and has realised that it is not a dearth of hard work or talent but some extraneous reasons. Nevertheless, she is determined to make it big and says she will now bring the Miss Universe crown home again soon. She is grooming herself by working out, makeup, costumes etc.
Says her mother Anitha, “I have accompanied her on many shows abroad and in India and I have found that most state governments take pride in grooming the daughters and sons of soil for big opportunities. Tejaswini has won so many laurels so far and we hope that a dynamic minister like KTR will recognise her work and give us a helping hand to be able to achieve more for the state. Even today, when we visit our hometown Mahabubnagar during long weekends and vacations, the local bureaucrats and campuses take pride in this Telangana girl.
I hope we at least get to meet the Chief Minister soon,” she says. Although her mom, previously a software engineer, and her dad Madan Mohan Sharma, a banker, were never into material extravagance, it gave her a major kick when she could win herself a neon green Tata Nano for winning the Telugammayi contest a few years ago. “I turned 18 and I earned this. Now, it helps me be more mobile and squeeze in more things into my day’s to-do list,” she says.
“I may sound like I am saying it for a beauty pageant Q & A round, but my ultimate aim is to be able be in a position where I can serve lakhs of people. Despite winning big titles, cash awards and getting rare opportunities, being able to save a family friend’s life by rendering timely resuscitation makes me feel empowered,” she says.
As she manages calls from media houses and uploads videos in her newly created pages on social media, as she packs her clothes for her London trip and politely declines movie offers from big production houses with a ‘London nunchi vachchaka maatladutanandi’, it feels like the world is her stage and she is going to soon deliver a blockbuster performance.
— Manju Latha Kalanidhi kalanidhi
@newindianexpress.com
@mkalanidhi