Kathmandu: A woman who grew up thousands of miles from Nepal just won the country’s top beauty title. Deepmala Dhakal took the Miss Nepal crown on Saturday evening and in doing so, became the first non resident Nepali ever to win it.

Dhakal isn’t new to Nepali community work. She holds the “second generation coordinator” post for Hong Kong within the Non Resident Nepali Association’s current committee.

Her win Saturday broke new ground in three ways.

First, the obvious one: no non resident Nepali had won Miss Nepal before. Women living abroad had entered the contest plenty of times.

Some who’d gone overseas on student visas even won after returning home. But someone settled permanently abroad, the group NRNA calls “second generation”, had never taken the crown until Dhakal.

Second, she arrived at Miss Nepal through the Diaspora title, run by organizer The Hidden Treasure and rode that straight into a win. Her Miss Nepal Hong Kong victory locked in her spot in the main pageant.

Nobody who’d won the Diaspora title had gone on to win Miss Nepal itself. Dhakal is the first.

Third, she picked up four sub titles in one night at the grand finale, more than any contestant before her: Miss Visionary Green, Miss Health Harmony, Miss Confidence and Beauty with Purpose.

A few of those wins pushed her directly into the semifinals. The Beauty with Purpose title in particular sets her up for Miss World next year.

There’s a family story behind all this. Dhakal’s mother, Roshani, competed in Miss Nepal back in 1994 and didn’t win. Three decades later, her daughter finished what she started.

NRNA vice chair Rojina Pradhan praised the win, calling it both a continuation of a proud family legacy and a significant moment for non resident Nepalis generally.

What comes next:

Dhakal, along with Miss Nepal International winner Arya Nishant and Miss Nepal Cosmo winner Kashish Subba, will spend the coming year working with The Hidden Treasure. Dhakal heads toward Miss World. Arya is bound for Miss International in Japan and Kashish will represent Nepal at Miss Cosmo in Vietnam.