Femina Miss India-World 2003

Ami Vashi is at home anywhere in the world, working for a noble cause. By Reshmi Chakraborty.

If there’s one thing that troubles Femina Miss India-World 2003 Ami Vashi while travelling, it’s the absence of a gym in the hotel! The 22-year-old is a lover of adventure sports and a fitness freak, something that shows well in her willowy 170 cm frame.

The India-born, California-bred sparkly-eyed beauty has always imbibed the best of both worlds and has never been far away from her Indian roots. “I was always coming back here to meet relatives, friends,” she declares in her distinctive drawl. The finance major from the University of Southern California decided to move back to India with her parents to experience something different, in an age when most young people are Westward bound.

“I wanted a change, I don’t like routine lifestyles,” she says, flashing her winning smile.

Ami’s lifestyle certainly hasn’t been routine. Back in Mumbai, she worked with an NGO that deals with women’s empowerment. Ami is passionate about the work that she may now take some time going back to.

“My role was to get funding from abroad and channelise those funds into different avenues, like legal and medical, that help women.” The task wasn’t easy, but definitely fulfilling.

It was at the insistence of her grandmother that Ami decided to participate in the Femina Miss India Contest. Winning a pageant wasn’t a novel experience for her. Ami has been Miss India California in 1997 and won several dance competitions over the years in the US.

Ami saw the Femina Miss India Contest as a great opportunity to “grow as an individual and gain a network that would widen my scope to work”. She also made some great friends. “The best part is that you are trained by some of the best professionals and that is a wonderful experience,” she adds. T

he training schedule was rigourous, but Ami jokes that she has been through tougher stuff, “like corporate America”!

Winning the contest may leave her with little time for passions Bharat Natyam and reading, but Ami is ready for it, “My lifestyle will change, but what I do in the year ahead will reflect my country,” she says.

The girl who believes that “beauty is strength of character” sees it in her mother, who, she gushes lovingly, “exemplifies courage, compassion and love”. Former Femina Miss Indias may have been trailblazers in the movie and modelling route, but that does not hold much interest for this Valentine’s Day-born. Ami would rather use her creative energy in socially useful work that also has a connection to her education.

“I would like to be part of the business world, but at the same time, work for a social cause,” she muses. In the meanwhile, Ami is getting used to the flashbulbs. And of course, readying to win the world.