Setting her sights on giving Sri Lanka a good name
Ever since Rosy Senanayake won the Mrs. World crown 27 years ago, Lankan beauty queens have hoped to put the island once again in the international spotlight. Emerging Second Runner-Up at the Miss International pageant held in Japan this October, Madusha Mayadunne has swanned into the public eye with her stunning good looks, lissome figure and vivacious personality.
 Madusha: Define yourself and set your own standards. Pic by Amila Gamage |
 Madusha, the model. Pic by Prishan Pandithage |
Born and raised in Sri Lanka as the middle child among three daughters, Madusha is a much travelled young woman.
She had part of her schooling in India and then attended Visakha Vidyalaya. She went on to the UK to complete her International Baccalaureate there.
“In the past seven years I’ve travelled to different countries all over the world and experienced different cultures,” she says.
“It is my passion to go to places, meet new people, and get to know different cultures. I’ve been to India almost every year, Thailand, Singapore, Japan several times, UK, Scotland, Wales, Paris, Italy, the US, (she’s been to almost every state and lived in Hawaii) Argentina and Jordan. My favourite will always be Japan because people are respectful of themselves and each other, “she said.
Having won two scholarships for her academic prowess, Madhusha loves to widen her knowledge on various subjects. The beauty queen who can speak five languages confesses that she loves being an achiever. “I love learning everything I practically can. I swim, I play tennis, I love dancing and even won awards for ballet and cultural dancing, I just love being diverse. In Sri Lanka they say ‘jack of all trades master of none’ but actually in today’s society you can’t be like that. You have to be an all-round person today to sustain yourself,” she says.
After her studies in the UK, she went to the United States for her degree, majoring in bio-medical sciences and has completed all the prerequisites to enter medical college. “I was there at Westminster College for four years. The reason why I chose that college and that particular programme was because they were one of the few colleges that provided the under-graduate course with a human dissecting programme.
After graduation I worked at a hospital. If anyone saw me then, they would not believe a girl in scrubs could become a Miss International second runner-up,” she adds with a laugh. Though not a professional model, she modelled part time in New York and in Fitchburg.
She’s now more keen on gender studies she says, having combined her degree with psychology.
Passionate in speaking out on subjects like equality in Sri Lanka, she hopes one day she could be part of the United Nations or UNICEF or another world body to work for her country.
Returning home after graduation, it’s been a busy and clearly successful year for Madusha. She won the Miss Sri Lanka for Miss International, going on to become the second runner-up at the international pageant held in Japan in October.
Madusha is determined to make her year as title holder of the Miss Sri Lanka for Miss International count. “I need people to come forth and reach me in this year. This crown is temporary. Next year some other girl would get it. So I need to work within this year.
Whatever I do in this year reaches my organization in Japan to help girls who would like to compete for this title in the future from our country so that they are given the training that they deserve when going to other countries for these competitions. We need to show that we Sri Lanka have made something out of this. I would also love to work with the government and even NGOs to promote Sri Lanka.”
“Everywhere I go they ask about the war, about the tsunami. Why can’t we get them to talk about our country in a positive way? Why not the beaches, the elephants, our tea or the Kandy perahera?
We have good, hospitable people, intelligent people in our country. We have substance and virtue in our country. Why can’t we make use of that? When we said Ceylon, people knew where we were, what was best in our country. We need to get back to that place. We have to bring back our name,” she says.
Madusha is appreciative of those in the industry who have helped and supported her. She mentions Sangeetha Weeraratne who had been a guide to her all the way, Sherine Kumarathunga, Rosita Wickremasinghe, Sonali Dharmawardena, Ramzi Rahaman, Ramani Fernando, and her parents for all their support.
At 25, Madusha is also an ambassador for youth of Sri Lanka and is very definite about her message to young people. “You have to define yourself. Set your own standards. The sky’s the limit.” She can be contacted through her facebook fan page ‘Madusha Mayadunne- Miss Sri Lanka 2012’.
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