Miss Nepal made history in more ways this year. Anushka Shrestha became the first Miss Nepal to be elected to parliament, where she has been raising issues of art and entrepreneurship.
Deepmala Dhakal added a different chapter to that story this week. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she is the first non-resident Nepali to become Miss Nepal. She currently serves as the “Second Generation Coordinator” from Hong Kong on the Non-Resident Nepali Association’s (NRNA) sitting executive committee.
The 24-year-old Dhakal, who has been working through the NRNA to connect the diaspora’s second generation with their homeland, now wants to carry that cause forward through the Miss Nepal platform. She says she entered the pageant with a vision of linking the diaspora to Nepal, and wants to send a message to the second generation about returning to work in the country.
“I wanted to inspire second-generation NRNs. Even though we were born and raised abroad, I wanted to show that we can still make a place for ourselves here and give something back to the country,” she says of her reason for competing in Miss Nepal. “I came to show that the second generation can come to Nepal and do something — and that they should.”
She also wants to push back against the perception that people who go abroad stop caring about or helping their country. “A lot of people say we don’t help either. That’s simply not true,” she says.
Since becoming Miss Nepal, she wants to use a cancer-awareness campaign to connect the country with the diaspora. She has taken this forward as an ambassador for Nepal Cancer Hospital, and her team recently held a cancer screening programme in Birgunj.
She hopes to bring the diaspora on board with this cancer-awareness project as well, not just people in Nepal.
“This isn’t just my project; it belongs to the whole Nepali diaspora. I want everyone to come together and do something for Nepal, to help the Nepali community,” Dhakal says.
Following the death of a cousin from cancer, Dhakal became even more determined to pursue the project. A one-day charity walk she recently organised in Hong Kong raised NPR 600,000 for the cause. The project also won her the Beauty With a Purpose title at Miss Nepal.
She now plans to take the same project to Miss World’s Beauty With a Purpose segment, to be held in Tanzania in 2027.
“For me, this felt like an international project. Through this win, I was able to bring joy not just to the Nepali community in Hong Kong, but to the entire NRN community,” she told Onlinekhabar.
She says that because more people will now listen to what she has to say as Miss Nepal, she intends to use the platform well.
“My focus will be on using this spotlight to advance cancer awareness on a much bigger scale,” she says.
Legacy, the number 17, and the country
Dhakal was born and raised in Hong Kong. Since childhood, she has faced the same recurring, and often stressful, question. “In Hong Kong, people would ask where I was really from. When I came to Nepal, I’d get asked the same thing,” she says. “After a lifetime of having to prove I was Nepali, now I finally feel like Nepal has chosen me.”
She says the Miss Nepal crown has given her a chance to introduce the country to the world.
“That’s why I feel truly proud to be a daughter who can genuinely represent Nepal through this crown,” she says. “I also had to live up to the value of this crown; my main goal is to go to Miss World, participate well, and not come back empty-handed.”
Dhakal’s win also carries her mother’s legacy. Her mother, Roshani, competed in Miss Nepal 1994 wearing sash number 17. By coincidence, Deepmala Dhakal also won her title wearing sash number 17, a moment that let her both fulfil her mother’s unfinished dream and carry forward her legacy of participation.
That confidence shows clearly on her face. Perhaps that’s why Dhakal didn’t just win the Miss Nepal World title; she also won four sub-titles, setting another Miss Nepal record.
