THOSE who saw Parvathy Omanakuttan shed tears on stage as the Miss World contest drew to a close in Johannesburg could be excused for thinking it was because of the excitement at having come so close to the crown. After all, she had just finished first runner-up, with Miss Russia taking top spot.
But, in reality, those were tears of shock and sorrow flowing from the eyes of Miss India.
Omanakuttan finished first runner-up at the Miss World competition in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Dec 13.
She told The Times Of India that she could scarcely believe the result.
“I objectively felt that my answer to my final question was better than those given by the rest of the contestants,” she said.
Omanakuttan was asked to describe her Miss World journey by one of the judges. She did
that quite confidently saying: “In India and South Africa, people are warm and warm-hearted.
I felt at home in Johannesburg. Great leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi
have influenced millions of people in both the countries.”
The audience responded with thunderous applause and she thought she had clinched the crown. But the answer was obviously not good enough for the judges.
“That is the reason I could not hold back my tears when my name was announced as the runner-up. My parents who were standing by, caught my eye and gestured to me to remain calm, but I was heartbroken.”
Her father manages a restaurant in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel which came under terrorist attack last month. As he was on the day shift, he was not there at the time of the attack.
On the day of the final, her extended family had gathered at her Andheri residence, the staff quarters of the hotel, to watch the contest.
Said her uncle Hariharan: “We will do our best to help her tide over the disappointment. To
us, she is already a winner.”
Her 17-year-old brother Jayasurya wants a band to escort her home from the airport. And
there are plans to seat her on an elephant and take her around her ancestral village in Changanacherry, Kerala.
This article was first published in tabla! on December 19 2008.
