Harsha Parmanand
Contestant #5
SPONSOR: Nevis Culturama Committee

Charming, enthusiastic, friendly and elegant are a few of the many words which describe 19 year old Harsha Parmanand. A Taurean gem, she was born in Guyana on April 25, 1996. When she was nine years old, Harsha migrated to Nevis. Although Harsha was born overseas, she has spent more than half of her life on Nevis and she considers Nevis her home. Harsha is the older sibling in her household which consists of her mother, father and one brother. Harsha resides in Cole Hill St. John’s Parish. She is an alumna of the St. Johns Primary (now Elizabeth Pemberton Primary) and Charlestown Secondary Schools and is currently studying at the Nevis Sixth Form College.

Harsha enjoys cooking healthy meals, singing, sewing and designing clothing, socializing and surfing on the Internet. She aspires to be a fashion entrepreneur and motivational speaker. Although this combination may seem a bit unorthodox, Harsha’s aspirations stem from both her love for fashion and her passion for public speaking and motivating others, particularly young ladies. Her positive outlook on life allows her to see the best in others and to help them to see the best in themselves. It is no surprise that her motto in is “DON’T JUST GO THROUGH LIFE, GROW THROUGH IT!” This motto is of particular importance to her because she has seen how people can allow their circumstances to overwhelm and discourage them. They then take the approach of just going through life instead of learning from their experiences and allowing those experiences to be part of the growth process.

Her passion for helping others led her to become a member of the B.O.S.S. organization at the Nevis Sixth Form College. The acronym B.O.S.S. stands for Building Our Society through Service and the aim of the organization is to complete projects which seek to improve the school and community. These include school and beach clean ups and mentoring students of the Charlestown Secondary School. Harsha is also the secretary and one of the charter members of the newly chartered Queen City Toastmasters Club. This organization focuses on building leadership and communication skills and will prepare her for realizing her dream of becoming a motivational speaker.

Harsha had an inclination for the world of pageantry very early in her life. Unfortunately, she was not able to pursue that interest until during high school. Her opportunity came when she had the chance to enter The First ever Mr. and Miss CSS House Pageant in 2013. She was delighted and overwhelmed that her artistic identity had been exposed and that the doors had been opened for her to explore her journey in the world of pageantry. The most influential person in her life is her mother because she has given Harsha the freedom to think for herself and to make her own choices. Harsha is intrinsically motivated. Each day, she strives to become a better person than she was the day before.

Through participation in this year’s Miss Culture Queen Pageant, Harsha hopes to surprise and entertain the audience with her personality, beauty, intelligence and talent for Culturama 41!