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The 25-year-old new Miss India-Canada 2001 and Miss Canadian Universe 2002, Neelam Verma has created a history of sorts, as she is the first South Asian ever to represent Canada in the world.

At the 10th anniversary of Miss Canadian Universe Pageant, Neelam won the crown and the honours to represent Canada at the Miss Universe, the highest echelon of beauty pageant, tentatively scheduled in May 2002 in Puerto Rico. In fact, she is the first South Asian woman to win the Canadian beauty title and is proud that she represents the South Asian community.

Even as Neelam is busy preparing herself for the pageant, she is all set to travel to Mumbai to rub shoulders with Bollywood stars and possibly follow in the foot steps of her predecessors like Ruby Bhatia, Komal Sahni and Gita Bali, who, like her, won the title of Miss India-Canada and then made it in the world of films and television. "I would keep my options open and see where luck takes me," Verma said. The beauty has a matured head, too.

Neelam's name has been etched forever into the glory of glamour with goodness. She outsmarted 29 contestants from all across Canada in front of a vibrant and enthused audience at the Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto. We caught-up with this ravishing Indian beauty to find if she had any Bollywood aspirations in future - here is what she had to say to us.

Her balanced and matured outlook towards life is evident, when she says: "I believe in being open to opportunities. My vision is to help progress South Asian and Canadian women in mainstream media. However, if I am presented with an opportunity in Bollywood, which I believe can be a good learning experience, is consistent with my goals and which fits my needs at that time, I will not hesitate to look into it. Life is about experimenting and taking risks, this is how all-great people are born."

After completing her BBA at business school she worked with Procter & Gamble in brand management for CoverGirl Cosmetics. But she did not stick to that job for long, and took a year off to explore the world, travelling through tough terrain in the deserts, jungles, mountains and seas of Egypt, India, Japan, Thailand and much of South East Asia.

About her challenging journey to Miss Universe, she says, "Since winning the two titles I have been faced with the challenge of balancing my social obligations, with the training programme and my personal career path." She is now also involved in charity work.

She has also become involved in national government initiatives. She was selected to participate in the Trade Mission, called Team Canada to visit India in October 2001, which was postponed. She adds that her political awareness has increased after her interaction with members of parliament, learning about their role.

Now that she is seriously preparing for the Miss Universe preparations, the temptation is there to ask how she is going about it. She replies: "Besides fitness, creating a wardrobe and preparing for the interviews, there are elements such as voice therapy, and above all preparing mentally. We often think of the contest as merely a 'beauty competition', However, very little of my preparations have been beauty oriented. It's more about connecting with yourself and being real than beauty and looks. You want your inner self to shine. It is certainly exciting and at times overwhelming."