Bhutan media society congratulates you for Miss Bhutan USA 2016. Can you tell about yourself?
Namaste, and Thank you all. My name is Bimla Siwakoti, initially from Goldhap. Right now I reside in beautiful Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with my amazing family. I am just a girl who is passionate about helping others and bringing positive changes in our community. I am very ambitious and a go-getter. But just like everyone else I am not perfect by any means. So right now I am working on being a better person than what I was yesterday, while juggling school, work, and the responsibilities that comes with the crown.
How do you feel about winning this title?
I am very grateful to have won the title. It would have been impossible without the support of my friends, family and mentors. It’s an exciting new adventure for me. Like they say, ” With great power comes great responsibility.” So it is a little over whelming at times due to the level of expectations people have from me. But I intend to make the best out of the opportunity and exceed people’s expectations.
Is this just a beauty show or you value the inner talents for being Miss Bhutan USA?
I personally believe that what makes a person beautiful is not only what’s on the outside but what’s inside their heart and their brain. I would be lying if I said the show wasn’t about what you looked like on the outside because part of it most definitely was. But I am speaking for the participants, the beautiful crowd and myself when I say that we were given equal opportunity to showcase our talents, and share our insights on various topics. So of course, I extremely value the talent required to hold the title.
Why Bhutan USA? Why not Miss Nepali Harrisburg?
Why not Miss Bhutan USA? Why Miss Nepali Harrisburg? What’s so wrong with wanting to achieve a bigger goal? Why settle for a city’s tittle when I could represent my city in a country’s title? Why settle for less? Would you settle for less?
How you want to promote the values of community you belong to after having this title?
Every community has their own personal sets of values. But I believe that my values lie in being kind, generous, caring, and thoughtful and loving each other. I believe in not judging people, I believe in not having a caste system to divide people, I believe in everyone being equal. My values might be a little non traditional but I hope I can relay the message to our community to be more open minded and accepting of everyone and moving forward as a team. This will teach our future generations about “unity”. My main focus will be promoting equality among all.
Are you hopeful about the future of others who want to this showbiz?
Absolutely, I believe that the showbiz has a lot of potential, because we have so many tremendously talented people. And so many other people who are dedicated to provide those talented people a platform to prosper. And for those who want to pursue anything in this showbiz, I say go for it and chase your dreams!! No one can stop you!!
What are the best personal qualities to have at hand for coming to this competition?
This competition requires a lot out of a person. I believe Confidence comes first. There is something so powerful about owning what you say, how you walk, how you dress, just owning everything about yourself and your surrounding! Confidence makes you fierce and it creates a bridge of trust between you and others. The next big quality I would say is humbleness. You could be the most famous person on earth but if you’re not humble, you’re no good. Third quality, Intelligence. They say, “beauty might be dangerous but intelligence is lethal.” And that speaks volume. Lastly, I would say you must be a good team player! It might be a competition but it’s not possible without team effort.
What difference are you making in the community?
Let’s see! I am just getting started but I believe that a lot of young girls look up to me as a strong role model because even with all the odd against me, I fought hard to pursue my dreams. I am all about empowering people and inspiring them to be the best version of themselves. I am hoping I’ve touched a few people. I am also changing the standards of what “beauty” means in our community. I think a lot of people believe that a beauty queen needs to be tall, lean, and perfect. Look at me; I am short, chubby and flawed. But I wouldn’t be anyone else but myself at the end of the day. Our women are expected to be perfect and I want to make sure the community knows that there is no such thing as a perfect woman! Anyways I have a lot of plans to bring positive changes in our community. I have an amazing team of support from HMFUSA. We will be doing a lot of charity work and I can’t give you all the details just yet but we have big plans for sure.
Previous Miss were found so inactive in community. What program are you bringing to value the title?
Inactive? Are you sure? As for my knowledge both the girls were actively involved with many programs. I know Prakriti and Numa both helped raise a lot of money for Nepal’s earthquake victims. Prakriti Rai has partnered up with NGO and has been an active member for two years. She recently visited Nepal and went back to the camps and volunteered there. Just because everything they do is not on the newspaper doesn’t mean they are not doing anything. Most of the good deeds go unnoticed while a small humanely mistake is flashed for the world to see. I think that’s the same case here. My sole motivations to participate in this competition were these two ladies. I want to follow their footsteps. Us three and all the ladies from Miss Bhutan USA 2014,2015, and 2016 have a lot of plans together but it’s not possible to bring a change in the community if the community is not helping us. My question for you is, did you guys offer these ladies any help this past two years to do anything for the community? How is one person supposed to change the world? How’s that even possible. Change requires baby steps! And we are all working very hard to make things happen and we need your support not discouragement. So, I humbly request everyone in our community to be active members and help us make things happen.
Any comment regarding organizing of the event?
The event was a huge success. Each and every person was dedicated to the max. We all brought our A game to the event. Everyone had fun and there was not a single glitch. We all came together as a community and made the best out of the time we had together. It was very emotional for me to see how happy everyone was. I am so very proud of everyone!! It would take me days to mention names so I won’t do that, but shout out to everyone who was there at Himalayan Festival USA 2016. And a special thanks to Priyanka Karki Dee for going above and beyond to make sure everything was taken care of.
And I want to thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts. It’s such a pleasure.
