"You need to be a great winner, a good loser and a great risk taker," said Evana as we began talking about how it all began for her. For someone whose sole objective was just a participation, how could it have gotten any better than going home with the crown which everyone had an eye on! "It was hard work mixed with luck and of course the passion I followed that got me the title."

Of all the things she got to experience from the auditions, to training sessions and from the finale to the entire Miss World journey, Evana says that she has learnt to take challenges one step at a time to add a milestone in her life. “Accepting and questing with the challenge was very important for me. To every girl, I would say the same. Never panic or over think in any situation. Deal with it by accepting it as a challenge," Evana added.

As head strong as she has been, Evana believes that every woman is beautiful and important in their own way. When I held out to know how it goes in the making of a Miss Nepal, she had a long list of contributors — the organisers, support from family and friends, consistency in hard work and perseverance. And there was one big name in Rachana Gurung Sharma, the renowned choreographer who has long been behind the making of every Miss Nepal till date.

“As we went out for our respective pageants, our foremost objective was giving our best and performing to the best of our abilities. Precisely for me, my target was to get hold of Dances of the World and Beauty with a Purpose titles. And I’m glad I could do justice to that," a delighted Evana expressed after winning Nepal a place in the top seven Dances of the World. In the category, she had all the contestants from 114 countries dancing to the tunes of Nepali folk song Dhaka Topi Dhoyera. She added: "I had to go through six different auditions to secure a position in the top seven Dances of the World. It was very tough but surely not impossible."

When asked about how Nepal can improve its performance in the international pageants, she emphasized it has to be valued high from the higher level. "If the government lends its support like in many other countries, the status of Nepal in the international pageants will definitely flourish. Making it large on media before we leave is another idea from where it can boom.”

“There is so much that needs to be taken care of while representing your entire nation and here in Nepal, we need to do it all by ourselves. It is indeed very stressful. So instead of so much of negative criticism, we would really appreciate encouragement and constructive comments especially during the international pageants,” Evana commented.

Being the recipient of the Dean’s Excellence Award (Marketing) and the International Student of the Year in the US, she wants to implement and develop all of her entrepreneurship and marketing skills in sole business venture of her own and also aspires to hold a PhD degree. Descending from a family of entrepreneurs and socially responsible people, she exclaims that it is very important for her to give back to the community in every possible way. She said, “April 25 is my birthday but I’ll probably not be celebrating it because it is also a dark day for Nepal (the day when 7.9M earthquake struck Nepal). So, I’d like to dedicate this day to do what I can and give back to the society."

Collecting experience from participation in few other pageants since the age of ten, Dibyata set out to pursue her childhood dream to become a Miss Nepal and is gracefully living that dream today. A second runner-up in Miss Global 2012, Dibyata not only aspires to make her mother proud but also the entire motherland.

Growing up in an environment where the parents always wanted their daughter to participate in a pageant, to get crowned as Miss Nepal was like a writing on the wall for her. As a child, she was always fascinated by how the pageant winners would get to wear a crown, a sash and wave at the audience.
She turned that fascination into passion as time passed by. Along the way she understood that there was a lot more beyond crown. Always motivated by how Sushmita Sen has been, she emphasizes on how important it was for her to follow her own principles and deny what she doesn’t believe in.

Dibyata has gone through a lot of good and bad experiences, highs and lows on her way to the title. What she treasures the most was the experience during an earthquake relief programme in Kavre where she was involved in. “While in the programme, we had just finished talking when there was the second major quake. No wonder we got terrified worrying about our families back home but we were there as Miss Nepals so panicking wasn’t an option for us! That’s when I realised our responsibilities as Miss Nepal even more,” she recollected the experience.

She thinks that Miss Nepal is one prestigious opportunity in itself because it gives a hold to do more for the society. She added: “People start trusting you with their funds and believe in you. So, you don’t want to let them down. This thing works like a push factor making us realise more about our duties and capabilities with a constant feeling of wanting to do more for the society.”

As it is said ‘Once a Miss Nepal, always a Miss Nepal’, Dibyata also reckons that once you become a Miss Nepal, you stay one forever and no one can take it away. Dibyata represented Nepal in Miss Earth 2015 in Vienna. She had an emotional experience in Vienna: "Even one message from the loved ones made me feel so much better. If we get that kind of support from the entire public, it would make a great difference.”

Dibyata was someone who did not relate so much with environment before, so to represent Nepal in Miss Earth with all the dignity and pride, she had to study a lot about the bio diversity, the wetland and other environmental factors of Nepal and she did it happily. She wants to break the steretype surrounding former Miss Nepals.
“There is a perception in general people that after winning Miss Nepal, we only end up doing music videos and movies but I want to break that stereotype,” said Dibyata adding she plans to get a Master’s degree and work in an NGO very soon.

‘What is meant to be will always find its way’, the saying couldn’t have become more true for Medha as she is someone who had never planned on participating in Miss Nepal but now holds the title of Miss Nepal International 2015. Medha credits her parents even for her participation.

With high goals and vision, as a tourism student, she wants to visit entire Nepal and wants her country develop economically owing to the works she carries out in the sector. She aspires to hold a PhD in near future. Sweet and soft spoken by nature, she carries a sheer interest in acting, singing and writing and regards her family as her strength.

Medha said that the three international pageants are significantly different competitions with varying grounds and ways of judgement. So, contestants representing Nepal need three separate grooming as well. However, she said, “In the current situation of our country hit by earthquake and ‘unofficial’ blockade, it might not fall in the priorities of our government but we really hope to see some positive changes when things settle. We would highly appreciate and welcome it.”

As someone who has seen all the ups and downs during and after a pageant, she strongly believes that it is very essential to be emotionally strong in order to participate in a pageant. One needs to be a bold and stabilized person.

She said, “It’s never just about beauty or brains.”While representingfor Nepal in Japan for the Miss International 2015, she was overwhelmed to see people recognize and appreciate you for who you are. “I must say one sash with your country’s name on it can have so much value. Without the sash, they don’t know who you are but with it, you instantly become so special”. She adds, “They get so happy to see you!”

Evana: In her Miss World participation she campaigned with the slogan “Travel for Relief” as an effort to revive the tourism that has been very much affected by the devastating earthquake. She has also been working as the Biodiversity Conservation Ambassador of National Trust for Nature conservation advocating for the sustainable livelihood of the communities along with an objective to promote and conserve the beauty of Nepal.

Dibyata: Her project was based on 5Rs: Recycle, Reuse, Reduce, Rethink and Respect. With a concept of “home stay” in Kaski areas, she worked in cooperation with the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It aims to economically empower the local villagers and promote organic food, bio-gas, water sanitation, local products and culture.

Medha: She initiated project “Muskan” in collaboration with Nepal Music Centre. It was a month-long project that focused on providing music therapy and capacity building among children (aged five to 14 years) of Muskan Sewa Nepal in Kathmandu.