Anjana Sriwastav, 42, a finalist at the Milestone Mrs India International-2017 pageant, believes "one has to keep learning and inspiring" to achieve something in life.
"I was born in Patna, did my schooling in St Joseph's Convent High School, Intermediate from Patna College and graduation from Patna Women's College in 1995," said Anjana, the mother of a 14-year-old boy. "I went on to pursue my masters from Patna University in 1997. Till then, never had it occurred to me that I could do modelling. All my academic life I was good in extempore. I won prizes too. But it was only after marriage and at my husband's coaxing that I took the plunge."
Anjana, who will represent India at the Mrs World pageant in Moscow in September 2018, is elated to have bagged a chance to represent Bihar. "Bihar is conservative. Very few people step out of home after marriage. I'm blessed that my husband, Binod Sriwastav, hand-held and encouraged me to take up modelling," she said. "I've been married for 18 years and all through, my husband, son and in-laws kept inspiring me to learn new things. If I win in Moscow, I'll make Bihar my first stop and tell men and women there to take up anything they love and polish it till it shines," she said.
Anjana came sixth in the Milestone Mrs India International-2017 in Pattaya, Thailand, on February 11. She won the Mrs Vivacious title there. Milestone, a public relations firm that organises the event every year, picks up talent and encourages them to participate in beauty pageants - by grooming, styling and undertaking confidence-building measures.
About Moscow, she said: "Am working on my fitness, oratory skills, diction, knowledge on national and international affairs, my poise, attitude and, above all, social assignments. I'm working for girl children in the national capital region as I'm based in Gurgaon now."
Have her Bihar roots helped? "A big yes. My schooling and college are pillars of my life. My present is because of my past," she said. Her message to women? "Believe in yourself, be optimistic and be morally upright."
