By Phurbu Thinley

Dharamsala, June 7: 20-year-old Tenzin Choezom from Dharamsala,which serves as a base for Tibet's government in exile in north India, wept tears of joy after being crowned Miss Tibet 2009 at the beauty pageant’s grand finale night here this evening.

The Chairman of the Spice India Splendour Dr BK Modi crowned Choezom as the new Miss Tibet and presented a scholarship cheque of 100,000 rupees.

A panel of four judges elected the new winner, making Choezom the second contestant from Dharamsala to win the Miss Tibet title since it was first started in 2002. In 2007, a 21-year-old Tenzin Dolma became the first winner from Dharamsala.

“The first thing I did was to cry. I couldn’t control myself ,” elated Choezom told Phayul.com after winning the title.

“From childhood I always have many big dreams for my life, and winning this beauty title is one of my dreams come true,” the new beauty queen who just completed her class 12 said.

“Being a miss Tibet for me is like holding an ambassadorial post to represent Tibetan people, and especially Tibetan woman,” Choezom says.

Choezom, who edged out three other contenders after going through seven rounds of competitions to claim this year’s Tibetan beauty title, the eighth in a series started since 2002, describes herself as an “ambitious girl”. And having won the title, she says, has given her more confidence and added responsibility to do better and achieve more in life.

She says her next top priority is to continue with her further studies and to become a contributing member in the exile Tibetan community. She can speak fluent Tibetan, English and Hindi, and hopes to adopt journalism as her professional career.

Ngawang Choying, 18, from Darjeeling was declared the first runner-up and won a scholarship cheque of 50,000 rupees.

Dolkar 24, B.Com and Software Engineer from Dehra Dun was the second runner-up winning a scholarship cheque of 25,000 rupees. A conciliatory prize with a cheque of five thousand rupees was given to Yeshi Lhamo, 24, from Bir, in Himachal Pradesh state.

Hundreds of crowd packed the venue compound at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPS) to its fullest and cheered in rallying voice, and fire crackers were repeatedly shot into the air creating a spectacular evening show here.

“I’m thrilled to see such a great crowd tonight. Thank you for coming and enjoy the show,” Lobsang Wangyal, the man behind the pageant said in his opening statement.

This year the Tibetan beauty pageant was renamed as ‘Spice India Splendour Miss Tibet Pageant 2009’ due to its sponsor, Spice India Splendour, which is owned by the the industrialist Bhupendra Kumar Modi.

Lobsang in his special message to Tibetan community, said this year’s pageant was a dedication to celebrate 50 years of Tibet on the world stage, which he said was made possible by the hard labour and incredible efforts endured by the older generation of Tibetan exiles. He also asked Tibetans to join him in paying tribute to those brave Tibetans who sacrificed their lives in their fight for justice and freedom in Tibet.

Lobsang also said Miss Tibet 2009 was being marked as an expression of gratitude to the government and people of India for supporting Tibetan exiles.

“Thank you India for for your help and hospitality,” Lobsang said.