AS THEY SAY, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. However, beauty itself has become a commodity in today’s modern world of consumerism. Thousands of crores of rupees are involved in the name of beauty as an industry.

Still, there are occasions when beauty indeed turns out to mesmerize people, captivating the proverbial eye of the beholder, in its true sense. One among these truthful occasions is the pageant ‘Darpan Mrs India Northeast’, organized by the Epitome Communication, a branch of the leading computer and allied education institute of the state — Epitome. With its headquarters located at Silpukhuri in Guwahati, Epitome started Darpan Beauty and Design Academy, an institute for training and service in beauty sector in the year 2002. Making steady but progressive strides, the Darpan chain of institutes, run by Papori Dutta, has already created a niche among the students of beauty therapies as well as women who want solutions to their beauty problems. Darpan has centres in Rajgarh, Ulubari, Silpukhuri and Ganeshguri in the city.

It was four years back when Darpan decided to hold the first ever beauty pageant exclusively for married women, wives to be precise, in the name and style of Darpan Mrs India Northeast. Though it was the first such kind of a show in this part of the region, the event drew huge crowds as well as a good number of participants from all the states of the Northeast, making it a grand success.

Judged by celebrities from Assamese filmworld and well-known people from different fields of life over the years, the contest has become a much-sought-after one for the married women, as this is the only such platform wherein they can showcase their talents.

“This coveted beauty event aims at focusing the talent and vivid culture of the Northeast. It is a platform which is aimed at blending culture and customs of the Northeast with the streaks of modernity,” says Rajib Dutta, managing director of Epitome.

This year also, Epitome has left no stone unturned to make the 4th Darpan Mrs India Northeast 2009 a grand success. Various partners like DY 365, Red FM, Reflexon, a monthly magazine, Garima’s Hues, etc are lending support to the event.

The event had been held at the Pragjyoti ITA Cultural Complex, Machkhowa, Guwahati for the last three occasions. However, this year, the pageant will be held at the open-air theatre of the Shilpgram on November 14 next. Already, nearly a hundred ladies have shown interest in joining the event to vie for the coveted crown.

Designed to attract people from all classes of the society and background, a plethora of celebrities from all walks of life will be present on the occasion of the event. “We have made all arrangements to establish the event as a platform to present the true picture of the cultural heritage of our region in the light of modernity that has set in our society,” says Papori Dutta.

With the people’s support and participation, this year too the event will definitely make its mark again. Everybody will have to wait till November 14 to realize that.

Partha Pratim Hazarika