Delphine Marbaniang and Zodiki Darkin at the pageant on Saturday. Picture by Pabitra Das

Calcutta, May 28: A 15-foot ramp ? a 15-foot pathway to success. For Priyanka Laurembaum, Delphine Marbaniang, Rochelle Zochuani Darkin, Zodiki Darkin and Bharati Hazarika, who had travelled from various parts of the Northeast to take part in the Vatika Honey and Saffron Soap Sananda Tillottama 2006 in Calcutta, this seemed too little a distance.

Glamour, glitz, glitterati ? the Vatika Honey and Saffron Soap Sananda Tillottama beauty pageant had it all, but for these five contestants it was an opportunity to show what ?they are made of?.

One runner-up title and nine sub-contest titles later, the journey was worth every bit.

The contest, held at a Calcutta hotel on Saturday, was a celebration of womanhood and beauty, promised the organisers. So five minutes into the show, compere Barry O? Brien goaded the men among the audience to give a standing ovation to all the women present as a mark of apology for female infanticide, dowry deaths and all the other patriarchy-induced social ailments to which women fall victims.

As if to shrug off this mood of victimhood, the contestants strode into the stage to perform a special number, named Grace and Strength, an assortment of moves put together from the Manipur martial arts form Thang ta.

As the judges, supermodel Nethra Raghuraman, actor Rituparna Sengupta, poet Joy Goswami, Vandana Luthra, founder of VLCC and actor Rajeev Khandelwal of the ?Kahiin to Hoga? fame, took their seats, the contestants sashayed down the ramp in Indian and Western wear.

A rocking performance by Alisha Chinai later, it was time to bid farewell to 10 of the 20 contestants. Rochelle Zochuani Darkin, Zodiki Darkin and Bharati Hazarika crashed out of this round, leaving Delphine and Priyanka to face the question-answer round.

Delphine, the audience?s favourite failed to make it to the final five but the quiet and shy Priyanka from Manipur surprised everyone by winning the first-runner up title.

A John Abraham fan, Priyanka hopes this first toehold in the glamour industry is just the beginning of a long tryst with fashion and films.

Delphine and Zodiki edged past the Calcutta models bagging eight sub-contest titles among themselves, including Miss Beautiful Smile, Miss Beautiful Skin, Miss Perfect 10, Miss Personality, Miss Talented and Miss Confident.

Though they have made it this far, will their Oriental looks and height pose a problem for future modelling assignments?

Says model and grooming expert Noyonika Chatterjee, ?When I entered the modelling scene, dark skin and curly hair were a big no-no. But I was lucky that the fashion world was slowly beginning to accept dark-skinned models. So, if these girls have the determination to stick around, there shouldn?t be dearth of work, at least for press modelling, which does not require you to be super tall.?

As the beauties head back to their respective states, their families ready themselves to welcome the future Bipasha Basus and Celina Jaitleys, whose journey to the film industry began from the Sananda Tillottama stage.