Looking back, it was the second time that India successfully won in both Miss Universe and Miss World on the same year – a feat that is difficult to achieve twice, let alone once.

Right now, 36 year-old Priyanka Chopra is one highly-established beauty queen who was able to achieve success as Miss World 2000, a Bollywood film star and a Hollywood actress.

And now, she is reportedly engaged to actor Nick Jonas after two months of dating. That is one fast-track that will move her up the ladder of global popularity even more!

My Flight Attendant friend – Jeddahliz Maltezo (she once took part in MWP) – shared that she recently had the chance to be the Cabin Crew on board the Business Class section when Pri flew as a passenger. And she swears to her cool and down-to-earth demeanour.

And then there’s Lara Dutta.

I can still distinctly remember the finals of Miss Universe 2000 held in Nicosia, Cyprus for the very first time. Right from the start, the former Miss Intercontinental (from 1997) was on top of her game and you can tell that she was way ahead of 1st Runner-Up Claudia Moreno of Venezuela when only two women were left standing.

It was Lara’s night alright. And she started another 1-2 punch of sorts for India that year – duplicating the 1994 achievements of Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai.

What baffled me then was the non-inclusion of our bet Nina Alagao who was clearly deserving of making it to the first cut at the very least. Even co-hosts Ali Landry/Julie Moran were surprised that she did not make it that far.

Anyways, the “Golden Lampshade” NatCos (made by Alfredo Barraza) of Nina that year was much-talked about because it was something that we have never seen yet in any of our country’s past MU representatives.

Enjoy the remainder of the weekend, dear readers!