Beauty queen yearns for a world crown

By Nilma DOLE

Miss Sri Lanka 2012 Vinodhini Siriwardena, known to her fans as Vinu, won't give up her hopes of representing Sri Lanka at an international pageant and is keen to bring home a crown. The Matara-born beauty queen will vie for the title of Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International in Guangzhou, China, competing with contestants from 80 countries. The event will take place from September 18 to October 10.

Vinu said the franchise for this title is held by Mrs. Wickramasinghe and the pageant is different to any other.

With Sri Lanka performing poorly at Miss World 2012, Vinu hopes to make Lankans proud by bringing home a title.

"I am 90 percent confident that I can clinch the crown at the Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International. Sri Lanka has never participated in this pageant before," she said. Even though only five Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International pageants have been held, the official list of titleholders include those from two other pageants under the same organisation, Queen of the Year and the first runner-ups in Miss Tourism International. Last year's winner was Miss India, Urvashi Rautela.

Vinu doesn't want Sri Lankans to be disappointed with the contestants' lean run at international beauty pageants.

"Even though a lot of money and sponsorship are put into local pageants to find suitable candidates for the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants, it is ultimately the lesser-known beauty pageants where Sri Lanka is successful, for example, Rosy Senanayake's win at the Mrs. World and Nadeeka Perera's win at the International Best Female Model of the World pageant and more recently, Gayesha's mini-title wins at the Miss Asia Pacific 2012," she said.

Vinu is aiming at the Miss Talent and Miss Personality mini-titles too and is hopeful that her fashion designer Steven will help her get a good ranking with the Best National Costume.

"I have been practising the dance moves that I had been taught for the Miss Talent segment and they are coming out nicely. I see myself being friendly to all other contestants and since I was selected as the Sunday Observer Miss Popular, I'm sure I can win the mini-title," she said.

Despite the ups and downs, Vinu is stronger and trains harder to achieve her dreams of taking Sri Lanka to the international beauty pageant stage.

Role model

She said, "I like being a role model. My advice is, anyone can achieve their dreams or aspirations if they put their heart and soul into it. Beauty is not enough, you need brains, must study hard and have a good personality."

The secret of her glowing complexion are fresh fruits and vegetables, exercises and being friendly to people. "I drink plenty of water, but that won't help if you don't have a clean heart," she said with a smile.

After being crowned Miss Sri Lanka 2012

Vinu is not upset about not participating in Miss World 2012, but the experience has made her stronger and more determined to represent her motherland.

"I take things in my stride and will not lose faith or be disappointed with the turn of events pertaining to my Miss Sri Lanka crown, but I will learn from this experience and put Sri Lanka first," she said. After the pageant, Vinu is keen to study, train harder to become a model and beauty queen and do more charity work. She said she wasn't sure of participating in the next Miss Sri Lanka, but she won't give up on her dreams.

Vinu is a fine example of how brains score over beauty. "I had decided not to neglect my studies for the beauty pageant because I knew that I can always vie for the Miss Sri Lanka title later, but studies are important," she said.

Vinu always knew how to strike a balance and ensure that she has time for studies and improving her talents.

Vinu has an elder brother, Fanu Dasith and a younger sister, Ruwi Lavanya. Her mother is a preschool teacher and her father a project consultant. About support from her family, she said, "I never had any problems from home because my family was open-minded about me participating in the Miss Sri Lanka pageant.

"Even my friends and relatives said that I should achieve my dreams because they knew that I was a well-rounded individual who had a good head above my shoulders," said Vinu.

All-rounder

Being creative and artistic as a child, Vinu had won several art and dance competitions in school. "I won all- island awards for art and dancing. I was also crowned the Anula Queen and bagged several Avurudu Kumari titles when I was young." She has participated in debating and sports, representing her school in basketball, netball and table tennis.

Vinu said if she wins the international title, she will continue to inspire young people to serve their country and continue her charitable activities. "I now channel all my energies into the Dehiwela Daham Dharmaraja preschool where I teach underprivileged children to read and write.

"I feed, clothe and play with them which gets me in touch with my inner child," she said. Indeed, Vinu's angelic smile garners her the youngest of fans who wait longingly for her picture to appear in the newspapers so that they can put it on their walls.

"The children, my family and friends and support from sponsors and the public keep me going. I'm thankful to the Sunday Observer for the Miss Popular title because without the love of Sri Lankans, I wouldn't be so successful," she said.

As for the future, Vinu plans to get into fashion designing or a career that would harness her creative talents to the maximum. "When it comes to representing Sri Lanka abroad, apart from Miss World, there are four other titles. So I'm representing Sri Lanka at Miss International which would make me a tourist ambassador."

Vinu advises young people to never give up their dreams and have a backup plan to pursue these dreams. "After I acted in the Derana teledrama, Pipunu Mal, movie offers have been pouring in and I am confident of making a name for myself in the movie industry," she said.