Miss Teen International Princess looks set to conquer beauty world

Bengaluru: Eighteen-year-old Bengalurean and freshly crowned Miss Teen International Princess, Sweezal Maria Furtado has a simple strategy in life: when the sun shines, make hay. This teen beauty queen wants to make use of this year fully and participate in as many teen pageantries as possible before she bids goodbye to “teendom”. “And when I am finally ready, I want to compete in the Miss India contest, of course,” said Furtado.

Instant fame is one of the obvious motivations. But Furtado says she has a big motive. According to her, when the spotlight is on a beauty queen, the cause that she believes in also gets pushed into the limelight. No, Furtado is not aiming for world peace.

“Mine is an achievable dream. I want to start conversations around two things that I believe in most. I want every child born in this world to have a childhood worth cherishing and I also want a world where parents are not cast aside in their old age, because the children are busy chasing money.

Family is key to her success, she says. A native of picturesque Barkur town in Udupi district, Furtado remembers how her summer holidays in her grandmother’s house, with a horde of cousins and the delicious food, always recharged her and made her look forward to her new beginnings in

a new class.

“I am blessed with a family that stands by me no matter what. I am the first in my family to venture into this line. Initially, people around me were telling me how tall and pretty I was and how I should contest in pageantries, Sweezal added.