News: Times News Network (TNN)

KATHMANDU, Apr 9: An alumna of Bangalore's prestigious Baldwin Girls' High School became the "new face face for new Nepal", winning the Miss Nepal crown and becoming the kingdom's representative for the upcoming Miss World contest.

Sitashma Chand, a 23-year-old former air hostess who studied commerce for two years at Baldwin's after finishing school in Nepal, beat 18 other finalists with her gift of the gab to lift the title in a gruelling contest that became fraught with political cross-currents.

"My high school days at Baldwin improved my communication and helped me win," Sitashma told TNN. "During my stay in Banglaore, I came to know people from so many different cultures, from east India, north India.

It helped me adjust in a different environment. So when we started training for the Miss Nepal pageant (for which the 19 finalists stayed in a 'camp' at the five-star Hyatt Hotel for seven weeks) and there were so many other people to adjust to, I realised I had already done that."

While training, the finalists also watched the participants at the Femina Miss India contest on TV and picked up tips from them.

However, it was her innate ability to "learn fast" and mindset of "aiming to win" that Sitashma thinks helped her win.

When the chief judge, Nepal's super star Rajesh Hamal, asked the contestants whether traditions should be followed blindly, her winning answer was: "We should follow our traditions but there should be some exceptions. Like sacrificing animals in the name of god since it's not what god asks for."

The Miss Nepal contest, Nepal's oldest and most prestigious pageant, has other Indian connections as well. The event, once drooping for lack of sponsors, was revived by Dabur Nepal, the wholly owned subsidiary of Dabur India.

Besides, it's the brainchild of Subarna Chhetri, a former Nepalese editor who is also an alumnus of the Calcutta Boy's School in Kolkata and an English (Hons) graduate from Kolkata's St Xavier's College.

It could have had another link had Nepal not been plagued by political turmoil, closure of industries and uncertainty.

"We had thought of asking Indian fashion guru Vidappa to groom our finalists," Chhetri said. "And he had agreed to make concessions for us and train the top three along with their Indian counterparts. But such an arrangement means a lot of money and planning and the prevailing situation ruled that out."

While last year, political turmoil came in the way of holding the pageant, this year too the organisers had remained tense with the Maoists' women's group and other rights and feminist organisations trying to stop the contest, saying it exploited women.

Hundreds took part in an anti-pageant demonstration outside the venue Saturday, resulting in an ugly scene.

As the mob blocked the way to the main gate and tore down the welcome arch, police lathicharged them, leading to a scuffle in which at least five people were injured.

However, the show went on. Neither did the state television, Nepal Television, pull out of the contract to broadcast the show live though the protesters asked minister for information and communications, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who is from the same party, to stop the broadcast.

"I respect the right of the protesters to have their own views and choices," a firm Sitashma told the channel in an interview after being declared Miss Nepal 2007. "However, we too have our own views and choices. And they should respect that."

Meanwhile, cases of abduction are on the rise in Nepal's Saptari district bordering India as a dozen of kidnappings were reported in the area during last two weeks.

Two government officials were also in the list of those abducted recently from the district, police said.

The Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha, an armed group fighting for the rights of Madhesi people, has taken the responsibility of kidnapping district education officer Bhim Raj Joshi on Saturday. They have demanded a huge ransom for his release.

Whereabouts of Murali Prasad Singh, a doctor at a government hospital is still unknown. He was abducted last week. The government is not paying any attention despite rise in such incidents in the district, said Prakash Khatiwada, a local human rights activist.