With the crown and title come responsibilities. Our readers put their hopes in our Miss Nepal(s) to empower women and youth, and to be engaged in social work to uplift the underprivileged and marginalised to help bring about a change in society and the country. They also expect the Queens to present Nepal and her rich culture and beauty in the best way possible on the international arena It is true that different doors would open for a beauty pageant winner and she has more opportunities to explore. But beyond that I don’t see anything special that we would have to expect from them. For them, it is a huge competition and a chance to make a mark in the ambitious world. Although I respect their intelligence and beauties, there is nothing they would do for the public; former Miss Worlds are examples. In our country, as the winners of the beauty pageants, they get a chance to become celebrities but they forget about others. I don’t know why. They might be respecting an old trend. So personally, I think participating in a competition is just for gaining popularity rather than doing some important work for society and for the nation. So, I expect nothing from them. If there is anything to learn and expect, we can do so from Dhurmus and Suntali (Sitaram Kattel and Kunjana Ghimire) who are just actors but they are building the country

• Nabin Joshi, Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur

Even though I have no interest in beauty pageants, I still have something to say about it. Beauty pageants are one of the best platforms to shine for the youth and to pick the best youth representative from a nation, world or continent. As a member of the public I have some kind of expectations from these young representatives. I expect them to represent our nation globally as a civilised, socialised and unified nation. Similarly, I want those candidates to deliver positive news about Nepal and fulfil their main responsibility for which they are selected as Miss Nepal confidently. — Tulip Gyawali, Minbhawan, Kathmandu   Beauty pageants are such platforms which enable one to enhance her abilities. As they are well trained and guided, they not only build their self-confidence but also sharpen their skills. Since the winners are public personalities, we the public have a lot of expectations from them. Miss Nepal is the one who conquers the crown with her beauty, intelligence and self-confidence over a lot of competitors from all over Nepal. So I suppose that she should be qualified to compete with international beauties. Once someone is declared Miss Nepal or in any other title, I have seen them in a few movies, music videos for a few years and some have disappeared after these few years in the limelight. Some beauties are working hard for the country and people like they promised. I suppose they can do more than that. As they are the ones who represent the girls of a nation, they can do a lot. Girls are backward in many societies, they can empower them. I am not saying that they should be compulsorily volunteering but I think a lot of changes could be made if every Miss Nepal does something for their motherland as they vow to do so. — Lalita Dulal, Maitidevi, Kathmandu   Participating in beauty pageants is an achievement in itself. It takes immense courage and determination to be a part of local or international pageants. Kudos to the groomers because only big-hearted people can help others recognise their talent and polish it! Winners have to be more careful regarding their words, actions and behaviour since they have now become public figures. We have seen pageant winners saying that she will be do this and that for society, for the underprivileged group and so on, but later they end up just doing movies, TV commercials and modelling. We understand that they get millions of such offers but their first priority should be making society a better place to live in, though it is not their sole responsibility — people look up to them as a role model/idol. — Shradha Neupane, Mahankal, Panitanki   There are many beauty pageants which help participants showcase their talents, build confidence and face the public. To win a beauty pageant is great prestige as well as responsibility for her. She not only earns fame and popularity but also becomes a public personality. On June 2, Nikita Chandak was crowned Miss Nepal World 2017. She was crowned Miss Nepal not only because of her beauty but because of her dedication, confidence, talent, hardwork and capability. The whole nation has expectations from her: to make our nation proud by representing Nepal on the international platforms. And I expect from our Miss Nepal or any other pageant winner to encourage, inspire and motivate the youth to support and participate in beauty and other pageants without any hesitation, no matter from whichever field or background they are from. I expect it from all the pageant winners because a pageant is such a platform which is full of opportunities to highlight one’s talent, and to learn, experience and grow. It helps the youth to voice their own choice and see themselves as matured, strong, developed and independent person over the years. — Prizma Shrestha   Beauty catches the attention, but character catches the heart. People always forget the losers, whereas the winners are always remembered. If we get to learn a person better we can actually learn how beautiful they are. The overly layered make-up and long hanging curls won’t make girls prettier. Their influential talk and character and attitude are a must that I think they must bear apart from the life in lights and magazines. — Sneha Baral   As a human being nobody is perfect. With the ambition of developing perfectionism in us, beauty pageants are held. Similarly, Nikita Chandak won the recently held Miss Nepal title. She didn’t win its crown just like that, but because of her great spirit and inspiring nature. I want to see her working in the development of any field, living here in the country. When there is the trend of going off to foreign countries to build one’s career, I want to see them working for their own country and living by their words. Big or small, it doesn’t matter because they are the ones holding thousands of people’s hopes. — Sashikala Tamang   My humble expectation from Miss Nepal is to promote the nation positively on an international platform to the best of her ability. Nepal is a beautiful Himalayan nation lodged between India and China; and has lots to offer to the international tourists who wants to visit ancient civilisations as well as exotic cultures across Asia, Africa and Latin America in search of majestic wild nature, spectacular landscapes and ecosystems, ancient, historic and archeological sites, rich and ethnic cultures and meeting friendly people and enjoying local cuisines. Nepal has everything to offer in that platter but needs promotion on an international level to attract more tourists to increase their footfall in the country. This will not only help Nepal to earn the much needed foreign exchange; but will also help build the local economy and provide employment directly and indirectly to a number of local youth. Tourism boom can change Nepal economy and status in an international platform drastically. My request to such celebrities is to promote the nation positively so that more people feel comfortable and excited to visit this spectacularly beautiful Himalayan country with their friends and relatives multiple times. — Saikat Kumar Basu   It is well said that with power comes responsibilities. These pageant winners have the power of fame and numerous opportunities to fulfil their ambitions in life. But they also have some responsibilities towards society which they have to fulfil. As public personalities they have the power as a large mass of people follow them and their views can reach them. So, they can utilise this power by raising their voice against inequality, ill-practices and illogical taboos prevailing in society. If they initiate such reformations, many people who are insecure will also gain confidence and revolt against such unjustified practices. They can do noble works such as being involved in cleaning campaigns, conservation of rare flora and fauna, motivating people to adopt healthy lifestyles and promoting our valuable culture and tradition to the entire globe. I expect them to rise above their religion, caste or gender and give equal respect to all other caste or religion which aid in national harmony. Lastly, I expect them to be a good human being and become capable of paving the path which a responsible citizen can follow it. — Shrijana Bista   In my view, a beauty pageant is about empowerment. Training given to participants during the beauty pageant is not only about modelling or fashion, but related with knowledge, confidence, boldness and spontaneity as well. Winners of such pageants represent the whole nation or whole group. So, there is definitely a certain expectation from them. If I would have to expect something from winners of such pageants, it would be their ability to influence a large group of people in positive ways. It would be spreading positive information or awareness among people as they are role models for many people like us. They have the capability to change or transform something to good, from good to better, and from better to best. So, I would expect them to bring some positive changes or awareness in society along with their involvement in fashion industry as well. They can change the nation and lead the nation to a beautiful arena with power that they have gained through winning pageants. — Shreesha Chitrakar, Lalitpur   Beauties with brains are crowned winners at such beauty pageant contests. I think the crowned person must come up with new ideas that would help explore these things in society and help to upgrade the minorities. These sorts of contest enhance confidence in participants. So, we expect them to represent and express the opinion of the whole nation to the world. — Sunita Bhattarai   It is very hard to win any beauty pageant first of all. After winning Miss World or Miss Nepal, they must empower women, engage in social services and promote issues related to women — they will discover their own hidden talent when they provide trainings to the poor people. Secondly, winners of pageants must raise funds and should be engaged in a lot of charity work across various countries, help to provide quality education to the backward people. This way majority of people will be skilled. Winners should show sympathy and compassion to the underprivileged. — Richa Jha, Pokhara   Women are beautiful creations of God blessed with courage and many talents. She has the strength to change society, country and even the world. In my opinion, a beauty pageant is a platform where a woman develops herself so that she can bring about a change within herself along with society. She should be a role model for uplifting the status of every single woman in our so called male-dominated society. She should be a spark to light up the world of women who are still in the dark. Despite the critics, she dares to face society where such beauty pageants are criticised. This way she should help other women to boost their confidence and step forward to bring a change in this society. Hence, Miss Nepal or Miss World is not just about beautiful faces, it’s all about the beautiful heart of a woman who could live up to the expectations of every women waiting for their welfare and change in their life. — Manish Maharjan   I like Miss Nepal and of course Miss World as they are talented and beautiful. It’s fun to watch Miss Nepal show. I also want to become Miss Nepal in the future but I think my short height will not allow me to do so. — Jenny   In the past, women were treated as a reproductive machine and their rights were limited to kitchen and kith. In our nation where many girls are still deprived of education and customs like Chaaupadi are still practised while they are confined to the four walls of a house, wining the crown of Miss Nepal is a matter of pride for all women — she becomes a role model especially for the youth. So, I believe she should be an avid believer in dedication, positivity, hard work, and passion. She has to help the needy by involving into social services as much as she can. Due to the political instability, frustration is evident among youths, so she has to look forward to involve these youths in constructive works through social media. She has to promote nation’s culture and traditional activities. At last Miss Nepal title holders will have to work dedicatedly not only for her personal sake but for the sake of the development of the nation as well as change the attitude of men towards women. — Dipa  Thapa, Hetauda   Beauty pageants are a great platform for girls to explore their talents along with their beauty and a quick short way to grab attention of large number of people and earn fame. So, as they hold the title and become public personalities, it’s common that their each move is being watched by people. Talking about Miss Nepal pageant, she is crowned out of many Nepali girls. It is a matter of pride in itself. So, the responsibilities automatically come on her shoulders. And as a member of public, I would only expect from them to fulfil their responsibilities and do things for the welfare of society without mis-utilising their name and fame. And I hope it’s everybody’s expectation to see Miss Nepal doing her best to improve the performance of Nepal in Miss World. — Prativa Rai   In my opinion, any level of beauty pageants are a good platform for someone to explore beyond their boundaries. They are just not looked upon as a public figure but as a hope of a nation. I personally expect from Miss Nepal that she should be able to identify the country globally. We could boost our internal potentiality not just for goodwill and fame. — Asa, Maharajgunj   Being crowned ‘Miss Nepal’ or ‘Miss Universe’ is really a big deal and dream of many women. Being crowned not only raises your fame but also brings a lot of responsibilities with it. I wish Miss Nepal to fulfil all her responsibilities and duties honestly. I would also like Miss Nepal to present herself as one of the strongest competitors at Miss World pageant. I also want her to promote Nepal as a beautiful and safe country for visit. I also want her to promote tourism as a way to boost local economy and provide a long term economic solution for Nepali people. I want her to represent country’s culture with the feeling of national pride. I want her to be dedicated in her work and fulfil all her responsibilities happily. I also want her to support the victims of earthquake too. I want her to present herself as a proud Nepali girl with talent, experience and respect for others and as a hardworking and determined person who gives priority to her duty and responsibilities rather than spending most of the times having fun. Not only from Miss Nepal, I would want Miss Universe and other pageant holders to respect the culture, tradition, norms and values of all countries and I want all of them to represent their inner selves and be who they are and represent their countries and themselves with pride and glory. — Anonymous   Beauty pageants is a great platform which provides not only the winners but all contestants with good opportunities where they can grow as a person in a better way and fulfil their dreams and explore their ambitions along with earning name and fame in life. For me my Miss Nepal or Miss World or any other pageant winner at first must be ‘beauty with brains’ which is an important quality a woman associates with such pageants. Secondly, what I believe is that a beauty queen must be versatile and witty while dealing with every sort of questions/things which come along her way within the pageant period or after that. She should have the courage to deal with the world. She should be bold both inside and out yet soft, kind hearted and humble in nature. She should know how to deal with situations and have that confidence in herself to tackle negative and positive feedbacks with a cheerful face and try to work accordingly. She must be capable enough to represent herself as well as her nation in an extraordinary manner at the international arena showcasing the most incredible aspects which are being overshadowed back home. — Tejaswi Pahari, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur   As Miss Nepal are public personalities, I expect them to be one of the well-knowns in the world through their ambition and leadership skill. As our country is lacking behind in the women empowerment, I strongly hope that they help in uplifting the status of women and maintain their living standard by establishing handicrafts organisations. It would be great if they also work for poor, orphaned and elderly people — it would bring smile on their faces. I expect that they would provide help to people through their participation in social service and awareness programmes. Finally I expect that their contributions provide aid to people like Nepal earthquake victims to bring regional balance. — Kamal Aryal, Pokhara   Beauty pageant winners provide global platform for the pageant winners to explore their pre-eminent potentials and bring out the best version of themselves. Once a woman gets crowned with such coveted titles, she gets a brand recognition which is a colossal ‘tour de force’ in itself. Needless to say, multifarious opportunities are in store for them. Personally, I want Miss Nepal, Miss International or any other beauty pageant winners to inspire the youngsters who have yet to figure out what to do with their precious lives. Really, they can be role models for the young generation. Moreover, they can engage themselves in social service. They can play a pivotal role in publicising and advertising the breath-taking natural beauty, unique Nepali culture, costume, lifestyle, popular Nepali cuisines, glorious traditions and many other good aspects of Nepal. That’s why, I believe that they can make a huge difference when it comes to preserving and promoting Nepal in the international arena. — Sanjog Karki, Tansen-6, Basantapur, Palpa QUESTION OF THE WEEK The world has become more aware about being healthy and fit. As such, people are hitting the gyms or opting for yoga, kick-boxing, dance, or other forms of exercise. Many go to great lengths to achieve the muscles and physique in trend, thanks to many celebrities. Would you follow in their footsteps to a healthier, fitter you? If so, which would be your fitness regime and why? Or do you fall under the ‘lazy’ category and think staying fit should not be a regime but an activity to indulge in? Why? ­Send your replies in not more than 200 words by Friday, June 16, 2:00 pm to Features, The Himalayan Times, e-mail: features@thehimalayantimes.com