Kathmandu:

They’ve been there, and they’ve done that. But for 25 belles the battle has only just begun. They still have to go through a gruelling training session and compete with each other for the most coveted title in the nation — the Dabur Vatika Miss Nepal 2007 scheduled to be held on April 7.

Dabur Vatika is the main sponsor of this event, which is managed by Hidden Treasure in association with JCI.

Recalling her D-Day as the first Miss Nepal, Ruby Rana says, “It was a big honour for me when I was crowned Miss Nepal.

Till then I was just a simple girl from Birgunj. My life changed overnight — I had become a public figure garnering lots of media attention.”

Rana was crowned Miss Nepal in 1994.

For Miss Nepal 2002 Malvika Subba, being crowned was a “turning point” in her life.

“I was just the girl next door and overnight I was Miss Nepal. The title changes one’s life and personality. Lots of things have changed since that day,” she says.

Fame, cheers from people, responsibility and lots of respects — that’s what Sugarika KC says she got from being crowned Miss Nepal 2005.

“I think the crown has given me a sense of being someone,” say KC, who will perhaps go down in history as one of the longest reigning Miss Nepal as there was no Miss Nepal 2006.

KC participated in the Miss World pageant and she describes her experience as “being with the world”.

“I realised that though we looked different and were from different countries, speaking different languages, we were the same some way or the other,” she says.

What these former Miss Nepals recall very vividly are the training sessions that they underwent and say that to a large extent the training have helped them become who they are today.

“The training session has played a pivotal role in the shaping of my personality and building my confidence. I did not know anything about fashion or style or modelling. But Rachana Gurung’s guidance and the training provided by New Era helped me a lot and has made me what I am today,” says Rana, who represented Nepal in the Miss Asia Pacific pageant.

Subba echoes Rana’s words saying, “The training session was one of the most wonderful experiences I’ve had. Before the training I was just a simple and ordinary girl, but the grooming brought a lot of changes in my personality.”

KC adds that the training during the pageant was what she enjoyed most. “All the girls were from different communities, cultures, fields and places, so I got to learn a lot about them.”

She has been involved in a number of things in these two years — she is the Goodwill Ambassador of the Nepal Cancer Relief Society, an ambassador of WWF Nepal, while she is working with Kathmandu Jaycees, Rotary Nepal, and is also working with organisations involved in anti-AIDS, anti-dowry and drug addiction among others.

Thirteen years have passed since the nation saw the first Miss Nepal. Are today’s girls better than those who pitted their beauty and brains in the initial years?

“Girls participating nowadays have a tremendous sense of fashion and style. They are bold and possess a great confidence level,” opines Rana.

And Subba could not agree more.

“Girls participating today are not only beautiful and smart, but also very focused about what they want from life. They are all educated and mature individuals as majority of participants are in their early-twenties, unlike previously when mostly teenagers use to participate.”

The veterans have spoken. The participants have it all — looks and the attitude. And three among them will go on to represent Nepal in the international arena. Anything else that the hopefuls should focus on?

They should be able to stand out in the crowd, according to Rana and Subba, while all three of them insist on a “great sense of style, confidence, smartness and communication skills”.

Many a times, beauty pageants tend to be a recycling of another beauty pageants with no new questions testing the contestants’ IQs.

Rana hopes that oft repeated and clichéd questions like “where do you see yourself 10 years from now; how will you represent Nepal in the international pageant” will not be asked this year.

For Subba those are “what is beauty to you; and what would you like to do for your country if you are crowned Miss Nepal”, while KC picks “what will you do after you are crowned Miss Nepal; and what would you do if you were the PM of Nepal”.

And KC hopes that participants will also avoid giving the trademarked answers about devoting their life to social service and of becoming the next Mother Teresa.

Let’s hope the judges and participants are listening. We look forward to a different Miss Nepal pageant in a New Nepal.