Yashmini Amisha Sarjoo is the first ever Miss Teen India Guyana. She was handpicked to represent Guyana at the international leg of the competition as there was no pageant.
“It’s still quite overwhelming being queen and has been a wonderful experience so far,” she said. “I’ve gotten exposure to a lot to things, to meet a lot of people, to interact with them and help them. It means a lot with the support I’ve received from Guyana… and being chosen to be the first Miss Teen India Guyana.”
From the Cinderella county, Yashmini was born at Land of Plenty, but has spent the majority of her life on the East Coast Demerara. When the family moved to live at Success, Yashmini was almost a kindergartener, but she recalls bits of what life was like then, while other stories were related to her by her mother. The adjustment period took some time. For many persons, adjusting can be a challenge and for the Sarjoos it meant going without electricity and in her father’s case finding a job to maintain his family. It didn’t take him long, but because he wanted them to have a place of their own and not continue living at relatives, he did extra jobs as well as worked overtime, saving for their home. From a young age, Yashmini began to appreciate the sacrifices her parents made for her and while this may have been a difficult period for the family, it was this hardship that inspired her to help others.
“[Having] the title I want to reach out to youths and those living in poverty. As a [child] my family wasn’t well-off and because of that, people never interacted with us much… because of our social status,’ she said. “This was after we moved. How people treat people depends on their status and even while I was at St Joseph, children hung with the wealthy groups if they were wealthy or the poor groups if they were poor. There was segregation in the class. Being someone who is always jolly, I didn’t have a group, I interacted with the children of all the groups…”
Her jovial nature, excellent academic performance and outgoing personality saw her making friends easily. She was a dancer who was also involved in occasional events at the school as well as a badminton player. She was often the go-to person for advice as her peers trusted her. Some needed help with their studies, others had more serious issues such as depression because of problems at home.
Since being crowned, Yashmini has visited Parika and areas on the East Coast Demerara meeting people and their children. In a Facebook post she made of her visits, she described how emotional it was for her to see the lengths to which some of these parents would go to provide for their children. Some of them confided that because of their economic situation others would discriminate against them. A child shared how it felt being shunned because of being poor. She went on to quote Martin Kornfeld – “If we all do a random act of kindness daily, we might just set the world in the right” and Mother Teresa – “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one”. Yashmini joined Miss India Guyana 2019 Rashena Hanif in treating vagrants at the Bourda Market area to hot meals. She hopes to in the future have her own organization that will look to doing daily acts of kindness.
The 17-year-old who will be 18 in two weeks’ time is a dancer attached to the Dharmic Nritya Sang with the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha. On Sunday last, during a fundraiser event at Oasis Café she treated the audience to the Kathak-style dancing she intends to perform at the Miss Teen India Worldwide this September in Mumbai. In fact, Yashmini will be doing a Kathak and Bollywood dance fusion for her talent piece. This is nothing new for the seasoned dancer who has been with the Dharmic Nritya Sang for some five years ago. What she is focused on now is perfecting the routines.
Dancing has been her forte ever since she had learned to walk. The ardent Hindu, whose grandfather is a pandit, said that it was at the mandir that she became fascinated with dance. Though the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha she also learnt to play a bit of the harmonium, she laughed, adding that she can only play the bolds, Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, basics for beginners. At her dance school she learned some ballet as well as African dance. By the time she began dancing at school events, Yashmini was already accustomed to large audiences. To date she has danced at more than five Naya Zamana shows, Phagwah Melas, Diwali motorcades and at different shows celebrating for Indian arrival at the National Stadium.
Yashmini has performed both locally and internationally and through Naya Zamana has been a backup dancer for outstanding singers like Atif Aslam, Sunidhi Chahaun and Ben Parag. “I wasn’t nervous to dance at my school events, but it was nerve wracking to dance for such popular singers but as you get to interact with them you realize that they are very humble persons… was truly an honour dancing for them.”
Yashmini confessed she does not know what she would do if she ever got the chance to meet the iconic and talented Bollywood actress and dancer Madhuri Dixit. She has always admired her Kathak skills.
Asked whether she had a fascination for pageantry also, Yashmini said that was not the case. Never a glitz and glam girl, though her favourite colour is pink, Yashmini said she could not see herself competing in pageants though she watched them whenever they were aired and liked that the contestants were assigned various platforms. What captivated her interest even more was seeing the queens having the opportunity to highlight, work and collaborate with prestigious influencers on important issues of personal interest. Yet she never considered entering pageants, not until she was contacted by National Director of the three India-Guyana franchises, Hashim Alli.
When Hashim contacted her Yashmini said, she was somewhat skeptical. But once she had a more in-depth idea of the pageant and all she would be able to do for the less fortunate, she could not pass up such an opportunity. Currently she does weekly training with pageant coach Alicia Bess as well as with Hashim and his wife Melicia. Asked whether she has plans to pursue any other pageants after this, the teen said, she did not know as yet.
Since being crowned Miss Teen India Guyana, there have been many positive outcomes especially when it relates to being able to reach others. There are a few naysayers, but she has kept her head on and ignored the negatives. Not one for conflict, she tries to remain friendly always. Her parents, Yashmini said, have been her biggest supporters throughout her life. She has a great admiration for her mother, who struggled alongside her father to make ends meet while being there to instill good values and remain positive. Her mother was a housewife and did cosmetology and catering until her now four-year-old sister came along.
Asked what place she always wanted to visit, Yashmini said, the Taj Mahal. Hashim, who was sitting nearby smiled before spilling that visiting the Taj Mahal was not on the itinerary for the pageant but will be a sponsored prize by the Miss India Guyana franchise for the Miss Teen India Guyana, Miss India Guyana and Mrs India Guyana. He said it was supposed to be a surprise, but the cat was out of the bag. A surprised Yashmini was smiling and saying thank you.
An aspiring economist, Yashmini is employed at Demerara Bank while pursuing studies in CAT/FIA at the Cacique Accounting College. She plans on later pursuing a degree at the University of Guyana. She noted that to be able to do all that she does, takes great discipline and added that anyone could do it if she could. She shared also that she had always wanted to be a dancer when she was little, and she was able to make that a reality because she did something about it. Yashmini recalled when she first started out, she saw the senior dancers doing a particular routine and was certain she could pull it off. When she got home, Yashmini decided to give the routine a try but it was not at all easy. Today, as a senior dancer, she has, with constant practice, perfected that routine. That was a learning experience, she said as it taught her that with perseverance and hard work, she can manage anything.
Because of her thin structure, the 5 feet 9 inches queen said her best piece of Indian wear is the sari as she can drape it as she likes to fit her features.
Her hobbies include dancing and reading romantic novels.
Puri and chicken curry is her best dish to have.
Yashmini can be followed on Facebook at Yashmini Amisha Sarjoo. She and the other local representatives will be in Mumbai, India from September 2 to 7 for the international pageants.
Applications for the next India Guyana pageants will be open in a week. Interested persons can check the Miss/Mrs/Teen India Guyana Worldwide for requirements.
