Sikkim youth Tseteej Shiwakoty is new Mr India

Gangtok: Tseteej Shiwakoty, a native of Kazi Road in Sikkim‘s capital Gangtok, is the new Rubaru Mr India 2020-21. The 25-year-old youth is all set to represent India in the Mr Global competition to be held later this year in Bangkok, Thailand.

An alumnus of GD Goenka School in Siliguri, Shiwakoty is a former Mr Sikkim Manhunt Kanchenjunga winner. He secured the second position in the competition held in 2019.

“I was more inclined towards health and fitness, hoping that it would be a career option in the future. But Mr Sikkim Manhunt in 2019 changed my perspective. Modelling gave me a better chance to develop and showcase myself. When I was up on the ramp presenting myself, I was very comfortable,” Shiwakoty, a graduate in health and nutrition from the Institute of Technology and Management, Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, told EastMojo.

Earlier, the Mr India pageant used to be organised by Peter England. But since 2018-19, Rubaru has been behind the country’s biggest male pageant that has been held 17 times so far.

With the new title, Shiwakoty is all set to move to Mumbai as he feels he will learn more about the glamour industry there. “Sikkim is growing, but when it comes to the glamour industry, it is still behind in comparison to others. Mumbai is a better option for me, especially when I start preparing for the international competition,” Shiwakoty said.

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“Mr India was supposed to happen in April last year. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the event got cancelled. For a whole year, Rubaru team was guiding us, but we could not do as we wanted. Every month, we had a task or assignment and it was like schooling with points being awarded,” Shiwakoty said, recalling about his journey so far.

Shiwakoty said it was tough to compete in Mr India. “When I was competing in Mr Sikkim, there were locals around. So, it was comfortable as the language was the same. But in Mr India, everyone was from a different culture or upbringing. It was diverse and so was the competition. Each of them had positive and negative points. We were the winners from the states, so it was tough, and they don’t give up easily,” he said, adding: “I put in a lot of hard work, there was some luck and right timing but most importantly behaviour. Being humble is very important,” he added.

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