Shvetha Jaishankar (born 11 December 1978) is an Indian model, author, entrepreneur, writer, dancer and beauty pageant titleholder. She won the title at the

Femina Miss India Miss India, also known as Femina Miss India, is a national beauty pageant in India that selects representatives to compete in the Miss World competition, one of the Big Four international beauty pageants. It is organized by ''Femina (India), F ...

International 1998 and later was crowned as the second runner up at Miss International 1998 held in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. She is the author of ''Gorgeous: Eat Well, Look Great'' published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

in 2016, which won the 'Best in the World in Food Culture' prize at The Gourmand Awards in 2018. Shvetha is also a founding trustee of ''Leap in India'', a movement mentored by

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

and founded by musician Srinivas Krishnan, that develops and conducts immersive music and arts programs in schools.

Personal life

Shvetha was born in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Tamil Brahmin Tamil Brahmins are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, predominantly living in Tamil Nadu, though they number significantly in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana in addition to other regions of India. The ...

parents. She is the only child of her mother, a retired physician and pharmaceutical entrepreneur, and her father, a businessman in the

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

s industry. She completed her schooling at the Sacred Heart Matriculation School in Church Park, Chennai, and DAV School. She graduated from

Ethiraj College for Women Ethiraj College for Women is an arts and science college for women in Chennai, India, managed by the Ethiraj College Trust. It was founded in 1948 by the barrister V. L. Ethiraj of Vellore. History Chairmen Source: * V. L. Ethiraj (1948–60 ...

with a B.A. Corporate in 1999 and pursued her MBA in 2004 from

Indian School of Business The Indian School of Business (ISB) is a private business school with campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali, India. It offers various post-graduate management programs. History The Indian School of Business (ISB) was started in 1996 by a bunch of b ...

, Hyderabad, after which she co-founded sports and talent management company ''Globosport''. Shvetha is short for Shvethambari; she takes her name from the

Tanjore painting Thanjavur painting is a classical South Indian painting style, originating from the town of Thanjavur (anglicized as Tanjore) in Tamil Nadu. The art form draws its immediate resources and inspiration from way back about 1600 AD, a period when t ...

Goddess Saraswati Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal Devi, goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the godde ...

, which is in her mother's personal collection. Music dance and tennis were integral to her formative years. In 2002, Shvetha married tennis player

Mahesh Bhupathi Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi (born 7 June 1974) is an Indian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a major tournament (with Rika Hiraki). With his win at the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles, he ...

; they divorced in 2009. In 2011, Shvetha married Chennai-based businessman Raghu Kailas. The couple have two daughters and live in Chennai.

Career

Modelling

At age 17, Shvetha was discovered by fashion guru Prasad Bidapa and went on to walk the ramp for India's top designers such as

Ritu Kumar Ritu Kumar is an Indian fashion designer. Early life and education The lack of educational opportunities in Amritsar led her to move to Simla for her schooling, where she attended Loreto Convent, Tara Hall, Shimla, Loreto Convent. She later stud ...

Rohit Bal Rohit Bal (8 May 1961 – 1 November 2024) was an Indian fashion designer, known for his designs catering to both men and women. He began his career in 1986, founding Orchid Oversea Pvt. Ltd with his brother, and debuted his independent collecti ...

and

Manish Malhotra Manish Malhotra (born 5 December 1966) is an Indian fashion designer, couturier, costume stylist, entrepreneur, filmmaker, and revivalist based in Mumbai, India. The founder of the eponymous label, Manish Malhotra, he sometimes took part in t ...

. She won the

International 1998 title and later was crowned as the second runner up at the Miss International 1998 held in Tokyo, Japan. She has appeared on shows for

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and Star TV. She was guest presenter at the Nat Geo Spell Bee 2009. She has appeared in TV commercials for Dabur Vatika shampoo, Nestle Munch,

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...

’s Dairy Milk, Asian Paints and Denim Soap. She has also appeared on a famous talk show ''Rendezvous with Simi Garewal''. She appeared on the cover of Femina (December 1999 issue) and has also featured in ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

'', ''

Verve Verve may refer to: Music * The Verve, an English rock band * '' The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve * ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album) * Verve Records, an American jazz record label Businesses * Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee h ...

'' and ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

India'' magazines.

Author and writer

Shvetha's debut book, ''Gorgeous'', was published by HarperCollins India in 2016. The book won the 'Best in the World in Food Culture' prize at The Gourmand Awards in 2018. It is a collection of recipes and conversations with India's top models and actors like

Malaika Arora Malaika Arora (born 23 October 1973) is an Indian actress, dancer, model, Video Jockey ( VJ ) and television personality who appears in Hindi-language films. She made her debut as a film producer in 2008 with her former husband Arbaaz Khan, f ...

Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is India's highest-paid actress and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awards and fiv ...

Milind Soman Milind Usha Soman (born 4 November 1965) is an Indian actor, model, film producer, and fitness enthusiast. He rose to fame in the year 1995, when he got featured in Alisha Chinai's music video, '' Made in India''. The same year, he made his deb ...

Trisha Krishnan Trisha Krishnan (born 4 May 1983) is an Indian actress known for her work primarily in Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu cinema. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she has sustained a successful career as a leading ...

, Gul Panag,

Ujjwala Raut Ujjwala Raut (born 11 June 1978) is an Indian model. Career Raut was a 17-year-old commerce student when she won " Femina Look of the Year" at the Femina Miss India 1996 contest. She was also among the top fifteen in the 1996 Elite Model Look c ...

and several others. The book chronicles Shvetha's battle with weight and food related issues caused by anxiety in her life and addresses the importance of taking care of yourself by prioritizing fitness and well-being. It also celebrates the importance of delicious food in everyday living in order to stay the course on eating right. There are over 100 recipes in the book that also features Shvetha's own recipes and anecdotes from her life. She was a popular columnist for

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

, a leading national newspaper. She wrote several features for 'The Girls Guide' and 'The Yin Thing' columns.

Sports management

In 2004, Shvetha co-founded and managed Globosport, a sports and talent management company along with Mahesh Bhupathi. In 2012, she joined

Reliance Industries Limited Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Its businesses include energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, entertainment, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Reliance is the l ...

as vice president, where she was part of the core team that handled the strategic and operational aspirations of the group's sports ventures including the cricket team

Mumbai Indians The Mumbai Indians are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Indians were founded in 2008 and are owned by India's largest Conglomerate (company), co ...

. Shvetha is the founding editor of the IPL magazine (

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

), the world's biggest and most popular 20-20 cricket league. The magazine contained exclusive photographs, interviews of top IPL players and a sneak peek into the events that are organized around the IPL extravaganza.

Other

Shvetha has spoken at several workshops and clubs on her beliefs on healthy living and the need to follow dreams. Addresses include the students at Pearl Academy of Fashion during their Induction, the Rotary Club of Madras, the Duchess Club, and a workshop for college students from Nagaland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shvetha Jaishankar Beauty pageant contestants from Chennai Female models from Chennai Miss International 1998 delegates Living people Ethiraj College for Women alumni Indian beauty pageant winners 1978 births