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Bhubaneswar, August 30: Two totally blind contestants, Jhumuri Biswal and Snehaprabha Lenka, and as many purblind contestants, Rasmita Jena and Sandhyarani Patra, have been selected for the second and final round of Miss India for the Blind. The contestants were shortlisted at the second round of auditions held at Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Handicapped (VRCH), here, Monday.
The first round of audition for the event was held at VRCH August 21 and 10 contestants were shortlisted from among the 14 that participated.
Rasmita, who had made it to the decad with her first-round performance in bridal wear, also impressed in the second round. “I am delighted that I have been selected to represent Orissa at the national level contest. I will try my best for the title,” she said.
The other purblind contestant, Sandhyarani Patra, is equally glad to be in the top four. “Now my aim is do my best to show that we, too, are capable of doing anything and that we are not limited by our disability.”
The four shortlisted contestants will attend the first round contest to be held in Mumbai, along with 30 other participants from across the country in September. A total of 12 contestants will be selected for titles from among them.
The dozen finalists will then take part in a 15-day training programme under a choreographer and a personality development trainer at Mumbai in October-November. At the final event in January 2017, these contestants will be put through a q-and-a round, a talent-show round and ramp-walk round, and will be asked to discuss their ambition before a panel of judges. The winner will be selected and crowned at the event.
Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for Handicapped, Bhubaneswar, and state branch of National Association for the Blind (NAB) jointly organised the state-level contest. The panel of judges at the event comprised Pravati Mishra, former assistant director of AYJNIHH, Namrata Chadha, social activist and former president of AIBWA, Sandhya Patnaik, the director of NIFD, and Odissi dancer Saswat Joshi.