Even losers take all

TNN / Mar 19, 2006, 00:52 IST

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IT graduates, IBM pros, Basketball Champs show what it takes to take on the world.

MUMBAI: If they had butterflies in the stomach, it did not show under even the harshest of strobe-lights. There were no missing steps, despite the flash-bulbs, and there was no stammering despite the presence of the celeb judges.
The vigorous, in-house training sessions at the Grand Hyatt, host hotel for the pageant, seemed to have done the trick.
The 25 Pond's Femina Miss India finalists, who sashayed down the ramp on Saturday night at the MMRDA grounds in Bandra, were put through the grind by 14 experts who guided them about everything ranging from haircare, grooming, smile, design, diet, fitness, choregraphy, diction and make-up that would be under the scanner on the Big Night.
And all the hard work put in for a month worked wonders.

When they first walked into the pageant's hall of fame earlier this year, every one of the contestants was leaving behind heavy academic lectures, irritating examination papers, plush office jobs, albeit for a little while.
Little by little, they were tuned to the demands of a mega show that had the world's attention. They came from different parts of the country, all with one dream: to see the Pond's Femina Miss India tiara on her crown.

Take a look at the background of some of these beauties and you will know how silly they will make anyone, who parrots the beauty-without-brains cliche about beauty contests, look.
Three of them are successful engineers and 23-year-old Montu Tomar, contestant number 12, is still studying engineering (Information Technology) in Delhi.
Contestant number 10 Jyotika Sirohi has a rocking career with IBM, no less, after netting a gold medal from the Army Institute of Technology, Pune. She, too, is looking forward to adding the Pond's Femina Miss India crown to her cupboard.
Contestant number six, 22-year-old Deepa Rajan, is a B Tech in Information Technology from Chennai and wants to use the rich experience she gathers from the pageant to become a succesful event manager.
Software engineer Parineeta, on the other hand, has been an all-rounder; from leaving the field behind on the basketball court to taking home medals for her nimble toes, she is your master of all trades.
Confidence and poise are, obviously, not at a premium. Eighteen-year-old Jaituni Desai, contestant number nine, is from the Silicon Valley. And you know why she is contesting? "It's because I know I am worth the crown."
The first-year Bachelor of Arts student aspires to become an IAS officer in the near future. Nineteen-year-old Aarohi Misra, a national-level silver and bronze medallist in air rifle and the pistol and a student of English literature, is crystal clear about her dreams: she wants to act in movies.
Team Pond's Femina Miss India 2006 is proud to be associated with title sponsor Pond's, associate sponsors Pantaloons and Richfeel Trichology Centre, official crown and jewellery sponsor Tanishq, Grand Hyatt (Mumbai), Happydent (Perfetti), Urban Yoga, Jealous Jeans, J and J (Acuvue Contact Lenses), Liberty, official radio sponsor Radio Mirchi, G S Entertainment, Vie Lounge, the U B Group, Mystical Radiance, Bright Advertising and Harshaan Travels!

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