Miss Nepal 2008 was postponed for the second time in little over a fortnight in the wake of continued protests from women wings of CPN-Maoist and CPN-UML as well as 39 other organisations. The two rounds of talks between the organisers and the disgruntled parties have apparently borne no fruit; this, despite the assurance of Prime Minister Prachanda to look into the matter. Meanwhile, the brouhaha over the contest rumbles on.

The strident protestors (who now claim to have collected the signatures of as many as 310 CA members) would have one believe the pageant was a matter of life and death for the people of Nepal, or, at the least, for the fussy Nepali women. Truth be told, the majority of Nepali women don’t give two figs about the next glam dame of Nepal. Like any other business venture, Miss Nepal is mainly a commercial enterprise with lots of money changing hands. At the same time, as the contestants are quick to point out, the participants are all grownups, and it is they who decide whether to take part in the competition or not. And doesn’t Miss Nepal give the participants the perfect chance to showcase their talents? Not to put too fine a point on it, at a time when floods have rendered thousands of families in Tarai homeless and when more than a quarter of the populace faces starvation, who cares?