Manya Singh, the daughter of a modest auto driver, has made history by emerging as the VLCC Femina Miss India 2020 Runner-up. She hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar and came only second to Manasa Varanasi, an engineer from Telangana who has been crowned Miss India.
“My blood, sweat, and tears have amalgamated into the courage to pursue my dreams,” she said in a post shared by the official Instagram handle of Miss India back in December. The caption read, “I’ve spent numerous nights without food and sleep. I’ve spent many afternoons walking for miles on end. Being a rickshaw driver’s daughter, I never had the opportunity to attend school as I had to start working in my teens. All the clothes I had were hand-me-downs. I yearned for books, but luck wasn’t in my favour. Eventually, my parents mortgaged whatever little jewellery my mother had to ensure that I paid my exam fees in order to earn a degree.”
Manya had worked two jobs ― as a dishwasher in the evenings while she also worked at a call centre in the nights ― in order to pay for her education. “I’ve walked hours to reach places so I could save the rickshaw fare,” she added.
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