Femina Miss India 2nd runner up Dr Sree Advaita: I don't want to be put in a box

ADr. By professing, the 24-year-old Sree Advaita won the rubric of Femina lack bharat second runner up at the recently held finale of KIIT Bhubaneswar presents the 61st Femina Miss India. The titleholder is still going through mixed emotions. “The grandeur of the crown hasn't really been processed by my mind yet. There are bouts of gratitude, but at the same time, there's also a tad bit of want, because I was always a Miss World girl, so a part of me has still not accepted that I'll not be able to do that this year. I'm just surrendering to God’s plan, as I feel there's a lot of scope for me lying ahead,” she says. The title comes with responsibility for her, but Sree Advaita understands what she needs to do. “I've always believed that to represent even the tiniest group, you need to know yourself better. You have to question and discuss it with the people involved what needs to be represented. You cannot assume a role on your own, take charge and act upon it,” she insists. While many see pageantry as a stepping stone for their career, Advaita is already an established doctor. So what pulled her into this world? “This idea got imprinted onto my mind like every other girl. It’s a classic tale, watching the other queens perform on stage and the impact that they have and the magnetic charisma that they left on me. I had so much fascination for it and the thought of it kept lingering at the back of my head. But when I saw Manushi Chhillar, who was also a medical student, win Miss World, that is when a dream turned into reality for me, that is when I actually started preparing for it with intention and that tunnel focus,” she says. Advaita adds, “I always wanted to do medicine, but I also knew this space will enable me to a point where all parts of me can coexist without me having to choose one over the other. My credibility from medicine comes in handy here, the visibility from modelling comes here, my discipline from dance, my purpose from my NGO, everything has beautifully amalgamated into one entity, and that is what you're seeing right now on this stage.”Ask her what the future holds for her post the win, and she says, “I'm still figuring it out, but the one thing I know for a fact is that I never want to be defined by what others say and be put into a box. I want to keep exploring whatever I can do, whatever new ventures I can create. And I just hope that at the end of it all, it impacts others as much as it creates an impact on me. I don’t just want personal success but collective progress.”