Miss India winners: 1959-61

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Fleur Ezekiel

Iona Pinto

Veronica Leonora Torcato

Iona Pinto (top, left) was the 1st runner up at the 1960 Miss International Pageant

Fleur Ezekiel

Iona Pinto at the 1960 Miss International Pageant

This is a patchwork of articles selected for the excellence of their content. You can help by plugging gaps in the information given below, especially about the years before and after these beauty queens won their crowns, because photographs and biographical details might not be available for that period. All contributions will be acknowledged. Readers can also send text and photographs about regional/ diaspora/ college beauty contests. (Example Miss Wokha, Miss Tokhu). Obviously, readers will not send any text or photograph that lowers the dignity of South Asia's beauty queens. Readers can send additional information, corrections, and photographs to the Facebook page, Indpaedia.com.

Miss India winners:1959-61

Miss India winners:1959

Miss India Fleur Ezekiel: Eve's Weekly Miss India 1959

Fleur Ezekiel

Fleur Ezekiel, 1st Miss India to participate in Miss World

Miss India winners: 1960

Miss India Iona Pinto: Eve's Weekly Miss India 1960

Iona Pinto

Iona Pinto,1st runner up at the 1960 Miss International Pageant.

mid-day wrote:

Pinto who represented India at the international pageant way before Reita Faria famously won the Miss World title in 1966 was an iconic figure in the world of modelling and beauty pageants.

Lack of professional grooming played a part in Pinto missing out on winning the Miss International title in 1961 at Long Beach to Miss Colombia by half a point! In Persis Khambatta’s book on beauty queens ‘Pride of India’ the experience has been recounted.

Apparently, the five finalists had stood on stage waiting for the judges to deliberate, and Pinto was by far the best contender. And yet the final results declared Miss Colombia the winner! The mystery was explained when the Dean of the Judges, Vincent Trotta, later told Iona, “Miss India, I hope you keep smiling... because you stopped smiling you lost half a point to Miss Colombia.”

Apparently, as the choice was so tough that the judges waited for one of them to do something wrong in those ten minutes. Sad because if she’d contested two decades later she would have had the best training and support system that would have not only have taught her how to smile but for how long and what intensity!

Never mind, Ms Pinto went on to a dazzling career in modelling and a long, happy marriage and kids. She is survived by her family including her daughter Vanessa Vaz Muller, who herself became a leading model in the 80s.

Miss India winners: 1961

Miss India Veronica Torcato- Eve's Weekly Miss India 1961

Sources for the Miss India series of articles on Indpaedia...

...include, in the alphabetical order:

Daum DesiHotMasala I AM She IndianAutographs LatestNewsPics MensXp Mid-Day MissIndiaWorldUniverse Missosology Missosology Missosology Oocities Pageantopolis SabreBiade SouthDreamz The Times of India The Times of India The Times of India The Times of India The Times of India Arunima Mazumdar & Richa Barua The Times of India The Times of India Voy.com

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