Aishwaryas of North East

Noteworthy was the fact that the contest saw representation from all the NE states with the exception being Mizoram.

THE Royal Challenge Mega Miss North East Contest 2004 was held recently in Guwahati. The contest was organised by the   Mega Entertainment Group (MEG)  in association with the Rajbari Nataraj Troupe and Purnima Handicrafts, all Guwahati-based organisations. The Shaw Wallace group sponsored the event.

In all 22 contestants were selected from all over North-East to contest for the crown. After the selection, they were all trained for one month in Guwahati. During this period the girls were groomed by experts in the field of personality development, fitness and of course beauty care. The girls were also taken in and around Guwahati for photo shoots in the countdown to the final contest.

The final contest was held at the District Library auditorium in Guwahati. The panel of 5 judges had young writer Mainee Mahanta, film producer Raja Bikhaya, businessman Pradeep Singhania, social worker L. Champa and Mumbai-based media-advertisement expert Pankaj Jairath.

In front of an appreciative audience, the 22 beautiful girls sashayed down the ramp. They introduced themselves attired in their traditional dresses and in the next round waltzed in evening wear to the tune of the famous number ‘we are the world, we are the children.” The judges’ selected10 finalists from these two rounds which was followed by question round.   

Tribeni Phukan of Guwahati was crowned Miss North East, 2004, while Sangeeta Deka and Annesha Sharma, were declared the 1st and 2nd runner up respectively. Like Tribeni, Sangeeta and Annesha are also from Guwahati.

Pinky Noimaithem of Manipur won Miss Photogenic title while Barnali Das of Guwahati bagged the Miss Personality crown. The 2nd Mega Miss North East contest turned out to be a great success. The 22 contestants were smart, self-confident girls ready to take on the world. It was apparent that the month long training and grooming programme had uplifted their confidence hugely.

Noteworthy was the fact that the contest saw representation from almost all the North-Eastern states with the only exception of Mizoram. Even a State like Tripura, which is known as conservative, and seldom sends representatives to such contests, also participated in this year’s contest.

Abhijit Singha, an upcoming fashion designer of Guwahati, was the brain behind the entire show. Associated with the Mega Entertainment Group, he has been the moving force in organising the Mega North East Contest for two consequtive years. It was basically due to his wonderful management that the show turned out to be such a success. Mr. Singha will shortly organise a Mega North East Fashion Week – a unique event that will take place in Guwahati later this year. The winners of the Mega North East Contest will get a chance to compete in Gladrags Mega Model Contest.

After emerging the winner,   Miss North East 2004 Tribeni Phukan told to North East News Agency, “I am from a middle class family. I am doing my Higher Secondary course from Handique Girls College and also pursuing a course on nursing. As I like traveling, I want to be an air hostess. I have been doing modeling for some time. In the IIT, Guwahati Fest too, I won the crown.”

“It feels really good to win the crown. More hard work has to be put in to rise to greater heights. As for now not much has changed, though it is nice to soak in all adulation and fame,” admitted the queen. “Modern cosmopolitan woman is our role model. But at the same time we should not forget the deprived and downtrodden women of our country. Every effort should be made to bring her up. The problems are indeed much greater and thus needs attention,” says Triveni. On being asked to define beauty, Triveni comments, “beauty is being graceful. Pure beauty is simply pure grace.’

1st runner up Sangeeta Deka on being asked the same questions replied, “I am from an orthodox family. Apart from pursuing modeling, I want to be an IAS officer. I am romantic at heart and studying BA.” “I am now more accepted and take seriously even in my orthodox family. They too are proud of me. The motivation level is now quite high after winning the crown,” she claimed. She feels “education is the core issue. The woman of our country even the lowest strata must be provided education to make her aware and strong enough to face the world. Concentrated effort must be made to this direction.”

On beauty she sums up simply by saying “I am romantic at heart as I confessed on many occasions. To me love is beauty and beauty is love. A thing of beauty is a joy for ever. ” 2nd runner up Annesha Sarma reveals that she had completed Bachelor in Music and had also done a dance workshop under Pandit Birju Maharaj. At present she is studying B. Sc in Information Technology and completed A level DOEACC course. She entered the modeling world in 2000. Her ambition is to become a R &D specialist. She is happy after the recognition she got after her success in the Miss North East 2004. Though it’s a fantastic feeling, she wanted to do lot of things. For her the next big challenge is to prove her at the next competition. On the present state of Indian women, she says, “while one face of the Indian women is shining and developing, the other face projects a dismal picture. One must be sensitive to this issue. For all round development, the change and upward mobility should come from the very bottom. Their problem must be tackled.” She is ready to contribute her might for the betterment of Indian women. To her, beauty is what makes you to feel good at heart. It may not be actually physical beauty. It lies in one’s interpretation. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

For a trouble-torn region, like the North-East, such contests always bring a new hope. The region may be far behind than other mainland states in terms of development, it is second to none when it comes to beauty and grace. That is the message which was conveyed on the eventful evening in Guwahati to the rest of the world. The success story of Miss North East 2004 has made us hopeful that the North-Eastern beauties will soon find a place in the major beauty contests of the country. Given the success of the event one thing can be concluded safely that the forthcoming Mega North East Fashion Week will be a success too.  

Hostels for North East students

STUDENTS who plan to come to the national capital from the North-East for higher education need no longer worry about affordable accommodation as the Ministry for Development of the North Eastern Region (DONER) is planning to set up hostels exclusively for students from the region. The DONER has written to the Delhi government, seeking land to build hostels in the city for the students from the eight states of the North-East. Nearly 5,000 students from the region arrive here every year for under-graduate, post-graduate and professional courses. DONER officials said these new hostels would cater exclusively to students from the region, including Sikkim. ‘’The mode of enrolment and admission will be decided later,’’ he said.

Funds for the hostels will be sanctioned from the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources, which is a rolling fund for development projects in the North-East, the officials said.

"From Nagaland alone, nearly 1,000 students come for admission but less than 50 students get hostel accommodation in Delhi University or Jawahar Lal Nehru University. We really need some more,’’ said Keviphoptsu, former president of the Naga Students Association of Delhi. While some students are lucky enough to get into the limited hostels, most of them stay in rented rooms, which are often expensive. Very few institutes offering professional courses have hostels. Sometimes, in search of cheaper rooms, students take up accommodation far away from their colleges or universities.

The cost of living being high in the capital, only students from the well-off sections can afford to study in Delhi. Hostels with subsidised food and board can open up avenues for those from lower income groups. Presently there are only two hostels for North-East students in Delhi University, but a certain percentage of the seats are reserved for other states. Lack of adequate facilities for higher education in the North-East are forcing youngsters from the region to seek admissions in the colleges of Delhi. Though located thousands of kms away from their homes in the North-East, the students prefer Delhi to Calcutta simply for the opportunities and facilities available in national capital. Many of them believe that their journey would bring rewards for them and help to choose a career of their choice