By Pawan Sharma
Dharamsala, August 4 – AFTER THE much-hyped maiden and successful Ms Tibet beauty pageant in 2002, if the event last year had turned out to be a major fiasco the fate of the third beauty pageant – to be held in October this year – also appears to be hanging in balance.
The beauty pageant is virtually gasping for breath in the absence of ‘bold’ Tibetan damsels coming forward for display of beauty with brain. And what may seal the fate of this event is the bankruptcy of the organisers. Numerous efforts of the organisers to encourage people to donate funds or sponsor this event have so far not yielded the desired results, putting a question mark as to how the event will be held in the absence of money.
“Indeed the lack of funds is a cause of concern. On the other hand, I am confident of at least 10 girls are coming forward to participate in the beauty pageant this year,” Lobsang Wangyal, director and producer of the show said.
Lobsang, the brain behind organising this event despite voices of opposition coming from within the Tibetan community said, “The show must go on even if it leads to bankruptcy. The motive of the event is to highlight the cause of Tibet in a different way. The amount of publicity the event has got across the world in the past two years vindicates our decision of holding this event. We will organise this event even if we don’t have money at the moment.”
It was apparently the absence of funds due to which the second Ms Tibet pageant had turned out to be a major embarrassment to the organisers who could not attract more than one Tibetan beauty to participate in the beauty pageant. The lone contestant, Tsering Kyi, had to be declared Ms Tibet 2003 as nine other contestants who had confirmed their participation did not turn up for the event.
The cold response of skin hugging clothes wearing Tibetan girls to the pageant last year was also attributed to the opposition the event had faced from the community. “In fact Tibetan girls are shy also and it is a new phenomenon for Tibetans who will take some time to accept it. To attract the girls we have kept this event lucrative and glamorous,” the organisers said.
This year six girls have confirmed their participation for this three days event commencing on October 8 at Mcleodganj. Among those likely to be coming forward to participate in the event are two Nepal-based Tibetan girls and one each from McLeodganj, Delhi, Dehradun, Gangtok and Bylakuppe, near Bangalore.
Interestingly, the reports about Tibet holding beauty pageant to promote tourism has come as a morale booster to the Mcleodganj based Ms Tibet beauty pageant organisers, who feel China was compelled to organise such an event after in-exile Tibetans held this show.
It may be recalled, reports from Beijing said a two-month pageant was launched in Tibet to select Tibetan beauties to serve as image ambassadors for tourism promotion.
“We have reasons to feel encouraged following reports that Tibet is holding a beauty pageant. We understand the popularity of our event across the world could have motivated officials in Tibet to organise such events to counter the original Ms Tibet pageant, the exiled community is organising to highlight the Tibet issue in a different way. We hope organisers in Tibet will consider the cultural sensitivities of the Tibetan people while holding these events,” Ms Tibet pageant director Wangyal said.
