Beauty & Brains

As I'd been involved in the original concept, my friends at Blue Diamond Society invited me to the

The journey to Pokhara was a bit of an ordeal - 6 of us in a car about the size of a Peugeot 306, 4 of us on the back seat. Allowing for a couple of stops (including travel sickness related ones - me included) it took about 6 hours. Quite cloudy when we got there but the next morning ........



..... spectacular views of the mountains (Annapurna range)












The contestants' aptly named hotel. That's Macchapucchre (Fishtail Mountain) in the background.











Contestants getting made up

There were15 contestants who had come through 5 regional heats to get to the final.

A bit of traditional dancing whilst the contestants changed costumes (evening dress and saris, no bathing suits!)

It may not be very clear but that is a bicycle wheel which she spun and then placed on her head like a gyroscope. It didn't look like a lightweight racing wheel either. I'm not sure how traditional this is or whether it was her own innovation.

The winner (3rd from left) and the 5 runners-up:

The winner will spend the next year as a National Ambassador spreading the word about HIV & AIDS and human rights. The 5 runners-up will carry out similar work in their local regions.

It was great to be part of this final event in the program and fantastic to see the confidence of the girls when they walked out on stage - apart from the HIV & AIDS message, that was what it was about. A moist eye moment.

Cheers
Roshan

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