The evening of Tuesday, 5 December, Kolkata. By around a quarter to six, a crowd had started to gather in front of the gates of the Rotary Sadan auditorium on Jawaharlal Nehru Road. Though there was hardly a pre-winter nip in the air as is usual around this time….blame it on global warming….darkness had nevertheless descended. And in the enveloping neon-lit ambience, near the entrance to the hall, one noticed the sole signboard. It read: “The Statesman and the Dainik Statesman present the award ceremony of ‘Best Face, Best Dress’”.

Those in the know are aware that The Statesman, India’s first English daily newspaper which was instituted in the year 1875, has hosted a select few events, namely the popular Vintage Car Rally and the prestigious Rural Reporting Awards.

While the former dates back to decades and draws, annually, an impressive number of antique makes representing some of the world’s best brands including the Rolls Royce, the latter was started in 1979, four years after Emergency was declared.

The goal was to commemorate the courage of reporters from the rural areas who had defied restrictions imposed on journalists to bring forth stories of the excesses that took place.

The “Best Face, Best Dress” contest is the latest addition to The Statesman’s list of annual events.

While The Statesman legacy has always been associated with the pursuit of the intellectual and the classy, verging almost on “the esoteric”, according to the group’s marketing team, the idea was to be inclusive and to convey the idea that contrary to the popular perception, “intellect” and “beauty” are not mutually exclusive.

Explained Apurbo Chakraborty, marketing head, The Statesman, “We came up with the idea to hold a contest which would target the women and girls among our readers and we were pleased to witness the kind of connection we had with them.”

He said the team received hundreds of applications.

“The announcement was made through our pages during the first week just before Durga Puja, which is a season of celebration of the power of women. They were asked to send in selfies taken in front of pandals. Their only age criterion was that they had to be above 18. There were entries from women even 65 years old. It was a massive success.”

Eventually, five girls were selected. Three in the category of “Best Face” (including Winner, First Runner Up and Second Runner Up) and two in the category of “Best Dress” (Indian and Western).

“The selection was done on the basis of a questionnaire,” explained Gautami Bose of the marketing team.

Questions pertained to a range of topics and included parameters such as their ability to articulate thought, interests, etc.

“The award ceremony was a huge hit,” smiled Priyanka Kabiraj of the marketing team.

“We wanted the evening to be entertaining so we included musical programs too. I really also want to thank our guests of honours for gracing the occasion and all our sponsors for their invaluable support.”

Indeed, the winter evening warmed up to the buzz and murmurs of anticipation as the names of the winners were announced.

Priyanka Debnath, who won the first prize in the “Best Face” category, beamed. “Outer beauty is the reflection of the inner,” she said.

Second runner up in the “Best Face” category, Poushali Das is a psychologist who said that she only entered the contest because “It was conducted by The Statesman.”

She said, “This was not a typical beauty pageant but one which emphasised a woman’s intellect as an integral part of what constitutes ‘beauty’. Tushmi Dutta, first runner up “Best Face”, agrees. An academic who is currently planning her Phd said, “The Statesman’s idea of ‘beauty’ resonated with my own, which is an embracing of the natural and being kind and compassionate to ourselves and our surroundings.”

Abhilasha Gupta who won the “Best Western Dress” award feels that “external beauty is a manifestation of one’s inner self” and Anahita Roy, who won the “Best Indian Dress” category said that The Statesman’s pageant was one with a difference and it celebrated “the idea of real beauty.”

The evening was witness to the mesmerising musical performances by popular singers Sahaj Ma and Ditipriya.

This was accompanied by an impromptu dance performance by an elated marketing team. Arijit Basu, Managing Director, Veedol, who was one of the guests of honour and who was in the audience said that while The Statesman was always associated with the intellectual, the new entrant to its list of events was indeed an innovative idea. He particularly enjoyed the performances of Ditipriya and Sahaj Ma.

“This pageant was started last year and clearly it is a success,” said Apurbo Chakraborty. “Next year we are planning bigger things.”