In October 2021, Shree Saini created history as she became the first Indian-American to win the Miss World America title. The beauty queen, who hails from Ludhiana and moved to Washington DC with her family at the age of 5, then represented the USA on the Miss World stage and won the first runner-up title.

Cut to 2023, the diva is in India ahead of the 71st edition of the beauty pageant scheduled to be hosted in the country in the coming months. In an interview with IndiaToday.in, the diva, who is a desi at heart, said that she is having a great time in the country.

“I’m so excited that 130 nations are coming to India (for the Miss World pageant),” she said. Shree expressed that she misses ‘jugaad’ culture and the eagerness of people in India to help others.

Well-versed in acting from Yale University, Shree expressed her interest in acting as a profession and her belief in the transformative power of films, drawing examples from Bollywood hit movies like ‘Three Idiots’ and ‘Sanju’. She would love to work with Amitabh Bachchan, she said.

“He is the embodiment of being such a good human being. He is so humble and he never forgets his values, even when he is such a big movie star. He always treats everyone like an equal, like a friend or a family member. The warmth in his heart really inspires me,” Shree said.

On becoming the first Indian-American to win the Miss World America, Shree said that her win depicts the diversity and inclusivity of the world.

“It’s not just a win for Indians or a win for America, it’s also a win for this world being truly diverse and inclusive. And, it just shows that no matter where you come from, you can achieve your dreams. Don’t ever feel that just because there wasn’t someone like me before, there will never be someone like me. I always strive to work harder each day, learn new skills each day, work on craft, and I’m so happy I get to represent two of the most powerful countries,” she said.

Hard work is one aspect of Indian culture, Shree Saini said, that she deeply resonates with. “Just by my bedside, I have a small auto rickshaw because I always remind myself that there are people in India who are working 12 to 15 hours a day, not in a temperature-controlled environment. And they work so hard to provide food at the table for their family. I think the three values of hard work, gratitude and being a giver have really embodied my Indian identity,” she shared.

Her life has not been a bed of roses as she suffered quite a lot healthwise. She has had a permanent pacemaker since she was 12, and was diagnosed with a rare heart condition. Due to this, she underwent open-heart surgery and a pacemaker was inserted. She also met with a fatal accident that left her with facial burns. But she did not let anything hold her back and emerged stronger.

When asked how she keeps her health in check amid constant travelling, she said she makes healthy decisions every day – which means working out a bit, and eating a healthy and protein-rich diet.

“I believe in making healthy decisions every day. Even today in Delhi, I woke up and I had three bottles of water. I prioritise having protein and try to do a quick workout whenever I get time. My dad always says that the pain of success is due every day. So you have to focus on making the right decisions every day and be consistent and try to find joy, like it’s a privilege that you get to work out. It’s a privilege. You get to take care of your body. So, whenever you are working out, don’t see it as a daunting task. But see it as a celebration for your body,” she said.

Want to know the secret behind Miss World America’s glowing skin? It is her penchant for natural ingredients. “Exfoliate your skin with sugar and honey. Use coconut oil for hair. Try to remove your makeup in the most natural way that you can with a natural cleanser,” she said.

She added that it is important to have a vitamin C serum and some form of retinol, and emphasised on being consistent. “It’s so important that I keep my skin moisturised and I use sunscreen every day,” she said.

Though health conscious, she admits her preference for Indian cuisine over American due to its rich seasoning and variety

Indian Americans have applauded the movie “The Vaccine War” by award-winning film director Vivek Agnihotri and described it as an eye-opener to the accomplishments of Indian scientists, in particular women, for helping a country of 1.4 billion people successfully combat COVID-19 under extreme circumstances.

Agnihotri, who is currently on an “India for Humanity Tour, USA” and screening his latest movie before a select audience in various cities received a standing ovation from Indian Americans in a Maryland suburb of Washington DC.

He was joined by popular actress and movie producer Pallavi Joshi. The movie is about Indian scientists successfully developing a vaccine for COVID-19 under extreme circumstances and obstructions posed by certain foreign players.

“It (the movie) kind of brought back everything. I really appreciate how it focused on the underdogs of the Indian scientists and women. We (women scientists) go unappreciated. Scientists are the backbones of healthcare, and they go unappreciated because we start working in the basement of the hospital or on the back end of the hospital and people don’t really know what we are doing,” Jyota, an Indian-American scientist who works in Quest Diagnostics lab here said after watching the movie.

The local organisers initially planned for the private screening of the movie in one theatre. They ended up screening in two theatres because of high demand among Indian Americans.

Both the theatres were house full. Vivek and Pallavi received standing ovations from the audience.

“It is an inspiring movie,” said Mukta after watching the movie.

“I learned a lot about what actually went into making it, what were the difficulties and challenges and pressures and what to overcome and the magnitude of its success. It’s very nice to know, thanks to their directors and producers,” said her husband, Vijay.

“The slogan I really liked was ‘We can do it’, that really hit me…,” said Kumar, who lives in Fall Church, Virginia, after watching the movie.

Gita Kishore, who lives in Silver Spring, Maryland said the movie was really based on science.

“Being a scientist myself, I could see the trials and tribulations of all the scientists,” she said and applauded the women scientists of India for giving an affordable COVID-19 vaccine to India and the rest of the world.

India took an exclusive initiative “Vaccine Maitri” to supply Covid-19 Made-in-India vaccines to various countries across the world.

Under this initiative, as of the first week of December 2022, India has supplied more than 282 million vaccine doses of COVID-19 to 101 countries and two UN entities.

Couple Sudesh and Sudiksha said they came to watch the movie to see the story behind the development of the vaccine by India.

“It was a wonderful movie, a wonderful story,” Sudesh said.

“It made us feel so proud to be Indian. I did my microbiology in India, so it brought back all those good memories of the research, the terminology and all that. He kept it very scientific. I like that part because it was not political at all. It stuck to the facts and that was good actually. It’ll definitely be appreciated by the scientific community in general,” Sudiksha said.

Dr Subir K Basak, a biotech expert, said the movie showed India’s scientific powerhouse and the deep determination in the minds of the women who are playing such an important role in India’s history.

“It all kind of happened at the time of greatest distress for India. Somewhere the powerhouse that has always been in India, meaning India’s women, ladies, girls, came out and created such a big solution to kind of save their Indian patient population from such a big unknown catastrophe that could have happened,” he said.

“The film captured in a very beautiful way, the power of the scientific aspects about what India’s foundation is and the power of the women, which we of course have always seen and known growing up,” Basak said.

The first cases of novel coronavirus (nCoV) were first detected in China in December 2019. Globally there have been 769,806,130 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of August 16, including 6,955,497 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation.