Dharamsala, August 5 – Over six girls from different parts of India and Nepal will vie for the Miss Tibet crown as shortlisting for the three-day contest, scheduled to be held from October 8, reaches the final stage.
Despite disapproval from key officials of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, including the Prime Minister, this would be the third year of the contest. A total of 19 applications were received this time by the organisers. Applicants were invited from any girl with Tibetan citizenship.
Lobsang Wangyal, producer-director of the contest, says that the shortlisted girls includes two from Nepal, one each from McLeodganj, Bylakuete (Tibetan settlement near Bangalore) and Dehradun. The age limit for participation was 18 to 26 years and the applicants were required to have their taxes updated.
“The final reviews of the contestants are going on and they would soon be called here for training in body fitness, make-up, hair care and styling, catwalk, stage craft, and, orientation on Tibetan history, culture and current affairs, before the contest. All applicants are amateurs and have never done much modelling before,” he says.
About resistance from the government-in-exile, he says, “It is the personal view of the Prime Minister that he feels such pageants are a part of the Western tradition and he does not approve of it. The Dalai Lama has said that he feels inner beauty of a person is more important.”
The winner of the title, he adds, will get a chance to take part in international pageants to be held in Malasia and Maxico. “That is why this time we have got a much better response and scores of people have hit our website,” says Mr Wangyal.
“The only problem is that of finding sponsors as otherwise we will have to fund the entire show ourselves. Such contests are accepted everywhere in the world and I do not think we are doing anything unusual,” he said.
Moreover, he added, there have been news reports that even Tibet is now holding a beauty pageant for promotion of tourism. This points to the growing popularity of such contests among people, he said.
Last year, Tsering Kyi, the sole contestant in the second Miss Tibet pageant, was declared the unopposed winner of the second Miss Tibet pageant. She was the only contestant from initial 10 applicants to arrive for the contest. The rest of the contestants dropped out for one reason or the other.
