Miss Tibet Pageant From 10 To 12 October At Dharamshala

By: Ravinder Makhaik

[lang_en]Shimla: In defiance of both the Tibetan conservative way of life and the Chinese occupation of the high land plateau country, the Miss Tibet contest is back again this year and is scheduled to be held in the second week of October.

The Miss Tibet Pageant, with the punch line – women with wisdom from the roof of the world, would be conducted in the Tibetan government in exile headquarters at Dharamshala from 10 to 12 October.

Girls from the Tibetan diaspora in the age bracket of 18 to 25, with a minimum of 165 cm height can only apply for the pageant. Despite being frowned upon by the conservative community, cultural entrepreneur Lobsang Wangyal, is going ahead with holding the 7th pageant is as many years.

The new winner would be crowned by Tenzin Dolma, who won the pageant in 2007. Following up her win at Dharamshala last year and to mark a separate identity for the highlands China occupied in 1959, Tenzin Dolma was one among 68 participants Miss Earth pageant held in Manila the capital of Philippines in November 2007.

Defining the objectives of the contest the organizers hold that Tibetan culture is a living, breathing, changing culture, with young women who wish to have the same opportunities as their counterparts in other parts of the world including education, travel and cross-cultural experiences.

Young Tibetan women deserve the chance to be seen as part of their traditional culture and also beyond their culture, as contemporary, modern young women.

Due to the seriousness of the Tibetan refugee situation, there is a tendency among both Tibetans and the international community to assume that young Tibetan women must only be engaged in activities that are based in the traditional culture or working for the Tibetan cause. This is a short-sighted view, say the organizers.[/lang_en]