So. Gul Kirat Panag, who sports dimples, likes bungee jumping and riding horses, will be the next to try a shot at the Miss Universe crown. While she, first runner-up Yukta Mookhey and second runner-up Shivangi Parikh took in the bright lights and adulation, what stood out at the Femina Miss India finals at Pune last week, besides a reaffirmation that India has gorgeous women, was a set of points.

One was that Shweta Shetty can't sing; she was upstaged by a live-performance crew which included jazz-fusion whiz Jai Uttal and reggae-pop star Diana King. It proved that Anil Ambani can be thoughtful to people other than his shareholders; he ordered a cake for emcee Kabir Bedi as it was his birthday. It proved that fathers will think nothing of making happy, unrepentant fools of themselves as Gul's dad Harcharan Panag did. The brigadier based in Jodhpur promptly pulled out a cellphone on stage to call Gul's grandparents: "Oye, Gul jeet gayi." It also proved -- yet again -- that such contests are more about looking good than pretences about intellect. If it rests at that, it's easier to digest. "I want to be instrumental in shaping history in some manner," chirps Gul. Now where have we heard that before?

-- Priya Ramani