Sruthy Sithara is living her dreams, as she prepares herself to represent India at the Miss Trans Global pageant. Sruthy Sithara, a transgender model from Kerala was crowned Ms Trans Global India 2021 on May 19.
The show begins on June 12 and will be held virtually due to the Covid pandemic, however, this has not dampened her spirits.
“I was born as Praveen but I wanted to live my life as Sruthy Sithara,” she says.
Born as a male, Sithara while pursuing education in college met people from the queer community and it was then when she found the confidence to accept her sexuality. Since then she never looked back and had gone through a complete transition in 2018.
She revealed her identity to some of her colleagues while she was seeking a company secretaryship. Most of them were supportive, but some teased her. However, that didn’t demoralise her.
Sruthy had faced bullying throughout school and college. “All my life I was hiding. It was when I went to college that I met others in the community,” she says.
She then took a step forward and announced the world of her being transgender through a Facebook post.
It was her father’s unconditional support that gave her strength and motivated her.
“My father welcomed me as a trans woman. When I said to my father that I’m a trans woman and I wanted to live my life as Sruthy Sithara, he gave me full support. So, that was my turning point in my successful journey,” said Sithara.
This courage led her path to achieve her dreams and she is all set to represent the country on a global stage in London for Miss Trans Global 2021 on June 12.
“I never expected to win the Ms Trans Global India title. I was ecstatic. This being the pride month, it is a push to my community too. It’s a huge opportunity and I am proud to be able to represent my country and my community on a global platform,” Sruthy says.
Admitting that the Covid lockdown has caused a little trouble as meeting people and making arrangements has become difficult. “I am getting a lot of help from my friends and the community. I have some grooming sessions planned, the costumes are getting ready,” she added.
The virtual celebration will have several rounds including an introductory round, a question-answer round, talent round, and bikini rounds. She also plans to present her acting skills for the talent round.
“I’ve to work on my ramp walk, I’ve got to get my costumes ready, make-up artists, hairstylist, and other things. I’m browsing past pages of Miss Universe and Miss World,” said Sithara.
Aiming for the silver screen
Shruthy has a dream to become an actor and she has also got a chance to work in some Malayalam movies soon.
“I want to become a character actor, portray realistic roles through the screen,” she says.
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The Malayalam film industry has many transgender talents working behind the scene, but there are very few who appear on the screen, thus, Shruthy intends to bring a difference.