Gul charms Chandigarh

February 15: Gul Panag, Miss India-Universe '99, returned to the city today for the first time after winning the title. And to make it mo...

February 15: Gul Panag, Miss India-Universe ’99, returned to the city today for the first time after winning the title. And to make it more memorable, she did it on Valentine’s Day, as the chief guest at the annual convocation of the National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD), handing out diplomas to over 250 graduates.

Wearing an elegant brown sari and her characteristic dimpled smile — that also won her the Miss Beautiful Smile contest in Chennai in December last year — Panag was the centre of attraction at the convocation. Though she studied in the city for only about an year, "I am a Chandigarh girl at heart," she said and made all Chandigarhians in the crowd feel proud all over again.

Answering queries posed to her by NIFD students, she left the audience spellbound with her confidence, wit and modesty. Asked whether she had expected to win the title, she replied, "I was confident but I hoped and wanted only the best among us to win. After all, it’s a matter of representing your country at aninternational gathering. It’s a great responsibility." She took the contest as a challenge, "because it was about personality and intelligence. If it was only a beauty pageant, I would not have participated".

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The 20-year-old believes in what she calls “The Indian concept of beauty: Karma, Dharma aur Sharma. It comes from within, that is how you relate to and feel for others."

Panag wants to pursue a career in modelling but not for long. "Within the next three years, I plan to head for the United States and do my Masters in Development Economics. That is, if I can manage admission," she said. She added that her immediate goal, however, was preparing for the Miss Universe contest and for that, once again, she was counting on her family and God. In fact, her first reaction on winning the Miss India-Universe title was "Thank God!" And that, she said, "is because in the end, it’s all up to God."