The grand coronation of Femina Miss India 2020 was held on 10th February 2021 at Hyatt Regency Hotel, Mumbai, India where Manika Sheokand from Haryana was crowned Miss Grand India 2020 by the outgoing Miss Grand India 2019 Shivani Jadhav.
Manika Sheokand who will be representing India at Miss Grand International 2021 reached her hometown in Chandigarh and was received with an immense amount of love and support from the people of her city. She resides in Panchkula; Chandigarh and was given a grand welcome by her family and relatives on 16th February 2021. Miss Grand India’s crown perched delicately on her and Manika looked radiant, full of love while coming out of the Chandigarh airport.
The diva mentioned, “While Chandigarh is my birthplace, Delhi NCR is where I started working. Soon after my studies in Chandigarh, I started working in Noida. Two years there made me explore modeling. So, both Chandigarh and Delhi had a vital role in my career. My love for both these places is equal." She graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s in Business Administration and started working at an MNC.
Manika shared that she feels overwhelmed to witness all the love and support she has been receiving as she never expected all of this. She was excited and emotional to meet her parents after a long time and stated that “As soon as I hugged my mother I felt like crying.”
Manika shared that she broke the news of joining Femina Miss India 2020 to her father two months after she quit her job and to her surprise, her father was supportive towards her dreams and said, “All the best”. Manika has also imbibed habits of fitness from him. "He has told me and my siblings some hidden benefits of a morning walk in detail. So, even today, I make it a point to get up early and go for a jog. I have been doing it regularly since the age of five."
The diva describes herself as a calm, fearless, and confident woman who uses her fearless attitude in tackling any situation that comes as an obstacle in front of her. She gets inspired by her mother and sister’s determination and focus towards the goals and aspires to acquire the same quality as well. She stated, “I am preparing for Miss Grand (International) pageant. Nothing has changed for me. But the crown reminds me that I have a huge responsibility to make India proud on the international platform."
Manika is very grateful for the opportunities she has received till now which has helped her to grow and has assured that she will keep fighting until she makes her country proud at international stage and becomes an inspiration to the people who deal with gender-based inequality like her but wants to work to eradicate that from the society. She also wants to work towards bringing attention to climate change as well and has stated that the shift from coal to other renewable energy will take time and we all need to think of steps to decarbonize the environment, cut emissions and increase carbon-negative construction.
The beauty queen is an empowered woman who understands the value of the platform she has received and would like to use it to promote sanitary pads that are not harmful to the environment. She believes that plastic pads are harmful and wants to work on creating them from banana pulp or cotton.