Miss Nepal 2018 Shrinkhala Khatiwada; redefining the beauty pageant!
All about Shrinkhala
I just watched a video of Miss Nepal 2018 Shrinkhala Khatiwada from Paradym TV entitled "All about Shrinkhala" and I am truly inspired by the video. She’s just nailed it. Here’s the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cloHN1CoxUA&t=592s
Miss Nepal 2018 Shrinkhala Khatiwada
Source: The Hidden Treasure And surprisingly, if you don’t know or haven’t heard of Shrinkhala Khatiwada yet. She’s the Miss Nepal 2018 and represented Nepal in Miss World 2018 as well. Shrinkhala was one of the top 12 contestants in Miss World 2018 held in China. Similarly, she won “Beauty With a Purpose” award and Multimedia Award with the highest number of votes based on social media platforms, audience engagement, creative content and societal influence made, Second Runner up in Sanya Tourism Promotional Video award. Further reading: 30-Day No Social Media Challenge!
Redefining the beauty pageant!
I had always been against the idea of beauty pageants such as Miss Nepal and now, I think I have an answer to why it exists. The reason why I was against the idea of Miss Nepal and beauty pageants as such obviously (like many people) was mainly because of the objectification of women and judgement of their beauty on the basis of someone's height, color, makeup, and many other factors related to body sizes. I am still not convinced about the limiting factors of judgement of the beauty of a person.
Source: Shrinkhala's Instagram But, beyond the pageant, there are higher purposes. Shrinkhala Khatiwada has redefined the meaning of beauty pageant. She believes Miss Nepal, in her life, is just a stepping stone, a means to reaching greater good and not the end. That's the thing I was missing out of the concept of such competitions. She has become a role model for millions of people, conducted humanitarian works and helped humanity to level up. Her popularity has definitely helped in all the works she's currently involved in. Miss Nepal became the platform for her and undoubtedly, she's capitalized to the fullest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPt8bK2gbaU
A small step towards bigger dreams.
During the interview, there were meaningful questions and her responses to them were impromptu, genuine and authentic as well. Here's the one which captivated me the whole time: Question: You’ve come a long way since last year. How does it feel to have come until now from last year?Answer: “I’ve become more confident, better with dealing people, got fame and popular than the previous year but, me as a person is exactly the same.” Answer continued; “A regular girl wanting to grow.” Shrinkhala believes that being a Miss Nepal is just a small step towards bigger dreams.
I truly believe, fame, confidence, personality are the things that give recognition and not the identity. That’s what she mentioned. RESPECT! It’s also a beautiful reminder every one of us who are aspiring and trying hard to become popular and earn fame. Maybe a question to ask ourselves; why is it that we’re trying to become famous? Some more of them: Social media is not 100% fake nor is 100% real. It’s because we tend to show one best picture out of 100s we click. “I don’t want Miss Nepal or Miss World to be the biggest achievement of my life.” My life will get meaning if I can step on it and do something more. It’s less of a pressure and more of a fuel to grow. Beautiful thoughts! And she loves Manchester United too. Wohooo!! HIgh-five! 😉 *Kidding*
Beauty With a Purpose
Shrinkhala won the title "Beauty With A Purpose" in Miss World 2018. The purpose behind the title is truly impactful to the society. A contribution has been made in health sector of Chepang village in Makwanpur district. As the title of the award suggests, impact was the purpose and Shrinkhala was the one deserving. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0qiNj5v568&t=1s I am against the idea of judging someone’s beauty in terms of superficial human features such as height, fairness, body structure, dress up. But the title she won is something that she achieved through her actions. The hard work put into the project, sleepless nights and uncompromised efforts to level up the lives of hundreds of people will truly be remembered for generations. Further reading: 30-Day No Sugar Challenge!
What separates Shrinkhala Khatiwada from other people?
She’s humble and authentic. Every time I listened to her speak and read her stories on Instagram, she’s remained the same since the day I have known her. I haven't seen any sugarcoated responses from her. Besides the inspiring personality, her contributions to the society is equally praiseworthy.
Chepang Project
What a great work it is. Identifying the health needs of people of Chepang Village in Makwanpur district and establishing a health post is indeed commendable. Even though Makwanpur being very near to Kathmandu is still lacking from basic needs. I came to know the situations of those places from Shrinkhala’s Chepang Project. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igo0WYbtgjE&t=30s Shrinkhala along with her team members conducted talks about handwashing, cleanliness, sanitation and hygiene which was helpful in spreading awareness amongst the people. Also, the blanket distribution helped provide warmth to hundreds of people during the bone chilling cold weather. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYAReYrGBwI The village which was unknown to larger chunk of people has been identified as one of the most needy villages in Nepal. A lot of people have known about the need of awareness, development and progress to be made. The helping hands have come forward and they’re doing their part (inside and outside of the country). Sadly I couldn’t be a part of it even though I desperately wanted to. I was fighting my own demons during that time. However, the vlogs from Sisan Baniya and updates were constantly inspiring me. Truly thankful 😊
Honesty and Authenticity
I was a huge fan of hers when she shared her vulnerability without any hesitation. She shared her experience of being too pressured because of expectations from millions of people during the Miss World Journey. And how she was constantly burnt out because of people taking advantages of her popularity. That was seen mostly on YouTube for short term gains and negative publicity. Most of them were negatively portrayed criticism related videos. Sad! ☹ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GM732VM2Q8 Shrinkhala Khatiwada wants to promote tourism! Visit Nepal 2020 is almost around the corner. Wishing her all the best. Further reading: Mardi Himal Trek- 2019!
Thoughts about Shrinkhala Khatiwada: Miss Nepal 2018
One of the main reasons I'm so inspired by Shrinkhala is that she brought my faith back in beauty contests by being her fabulous self and not a recycled cardboard cut-out-version of an already seen and digested personality. She is a breath of fresh air in that field. Beauty contests winners usually tend to have a similar pattern. Not to belittle anyone, but most of the participants or winners in the past usually came from modeling/ glamour industries and the pageant would be a stepping stone in their glamour career and would later go on to join the movie industry contributing very little towards the essence of Miss Nepal agendas and social work-related projects. I'm not accusing the notion of building a career in the entertainment industry to be a bad thing, particularly. But we've seen it too many times. Trends, when repeated many times, become stale. Miss Nepal should not be established as a gateway to the film industry as they are two very different platforms (both important in their own way but very different from one another). Shrinkhala, on the other hand, is one of the few real people that has maintained her individuality along the way and not yet surrendered into the paths chosen by most of her predecessors. She instead, is carving her own way. We can gather from her social media account that her days are still occupied with projects that are still affiliated to her Miss World mission, and other similar campaigns which stick to her commitments that she made before the pageant. She is still working extremely hard despite the international pageant being over. And she does it with that big beautiful smile on her face. In her Instagram live sessions, she puts an effort to make it as interactive and therapeutic as possible with her followers talking about important issues and not just beating around the bush with a “hello” to everyone as a fan-celebrity interaction sort of an event which most Instagram live sessions usually turn out to be. I admire her personality and how unapologetic she is regarding the things that matter the most to her. Also, her humility and weird sense of humor make her even more lovable than she already is. Shrinkhala, now, is the perfect role model for young Nepalese girl. I would even dare to say she might be best Miss Nepal we have ever had till date (surpassing even the ever so cool Malvika Subba). Shrinkhala, as of now, is the person young girls truly need to look up to and emulate. To not only excel in academics but also conquer the glamour world. To not only face your fears but also defeating them with a smile. To not only being humble and down-to-earth but also knowing what you deserve and not accepting anything lesser. To not only flaunting your fabulous self on social media but also adding a funny caption that mocks the entire perception of beauty. To not only being the crowd favorite, but also acknowledging ones who seem to disagree with the most popular opinion available. To not only shining in self-confidence but also addressing the insecurities that surround the life of an everyday average woman. To remind everyone that no dream is too big to achieve if you invest yourself completely towards it. I believe Shrinkhala is the super-girl of Nepal for little girls growing up right now and I hope they will learn to grow up by building their own ‘super-powers’. As for Shrinkhala, I wish her the best in everything. I will also like to remind her to take care of her mental health in between all the madness of work that surrounds her. I hope she gets the chance to let her hair down occasionally and gets some time off for herself. I recently watched an interview where she said lately she has been getting only 3 hours of sleep at night. If anyone deserves a holiday in Nepal right now, I would say it’s her. It can be overwhelming trying to maintain the pressure of being the perfect role model to everyone whilst also trying to live a normal life of a girl in her twenties. Hopefully, the lifestyle won’t consume what’s left of her and she continues to add bright colors in her beautiful world. Best of wishes. :) - Sahara Bhetwal (Find her on Instagram and her beautiful Poetic Musings. https://www.instagram.com/myserendipity19/ Find Shrinkhala on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shrinkhala_ (Go through the inspiring stories and thank me later 😊)
In the end…
If I am to extract one important lesson out of Shrinkhala’s life, that’d be “Stay humble, strive for better and give back to the society.” Because that’s what she’s doing. Thank you so much for this beautiful lesson. 😊 Lastly, I would like to wish her all the best with the great work. Cheers! Read the full article