The finale of KIIT Bhubaneswar presents the 61st Femina Miss India recently saw The 24-year-old representative from Goa Sadhvi Sail being crowned as Femina Miss India World. The titleholder is excited to get the opportunity to represent India at Miss World 2027 in Tanzania, but the feeling of winning is coming in bouts for her. “In a lot of ways, we still feel quite ordinary. But at the same time, we don’t take it lightly that we are representing our country. I feel you can have the pressure and at the same time, enjoy the process,” she says.
Having moved to Canada to pursue her studies at a young age, Sadhvi Sail knows what it is like to represent people as she did it at a forum for her university, and her takeaway is that “you can’t make everyone happy”. She says, “I’ve learnt that you need to detach yourself from the expectations of others in order to perform your best and do justice. These experiences have shaped me in terms of not taking a lot of pressure and not taking myself too seriously. Staying grounded while also doing it sort of helps you be in the game even better.”
In a time when the value of pageantry is questioned, for Sadhvi, her faith in it still holds intact because of its constant evolution: “Earlier, there were certain prototypes that you may need to fit in, but now, we’re turning more towards individuality. I see it even when it comes to acceptance of things like body art and tattoos. I never saw a lot of that initially in the majority. So the fact that pageantry is constantly evolving is what keeps my faith in it intact. It’s still a relevant platform as it’s a way for us to tell our stories,” she says.
A surreal moment did happen for Sadhvi after her title win when her hero came up to her to ask for a photo. Recalling the incident, she shares, “So in my interview, I wrote that Dr. Geeta Gopinath is my inspiration. She is the one who pushed me to pursue economics and International Relations and she somehow arranged a meeting with me and she was quoting me from my interview and my YouTube podcast. I was in such complete awe and then she asked for pictures with me and ended up posting them while tagging me separately. It feels like somehow the script has completely flipped and I am still easing into it, but it’s truly amazing.”
Inspired by the legacy of former winners, Miss World 1966 Reita Faria and Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen, Sadhvi says that she wants her legacy to be that fame didn’t change her. “In this industry, I have heard from people that many people change after getting fame and recognition. I want to stay as grounded as I can and I want people to remember me for not changing with fame,” she says.
