Time and again Pakistanis have proven there is no dearth of talent in our country - whether it is science, sports, the performing arts, or other creative fields. Recently, we managed to make a name for ourselves, this time in the field of make-up, thanks to the individual efforts of a Karachi-based beauty salon which participated in an international competition.

The Sri Lanka Association of Hairdressers and Beauticians held its third Asia-Pacific annual competition in the arena of hairdressing and beauty, in Colombo recently. The judges were from Japan, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Korea and Pakistan. Rohana Iqbal, the Proprietor of Bhabis, was invited for the second time running to represent Pakistan as a judge.

While last year Rohana went alone as a judge, this year, wanting to take a large delegation with her she couldn't motivate enough of them to attend the competition at the last minute.

The two-day competition, known as Hair Asia Pacific '99, was held at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre. The opening day was inaugurated with the judges lighting an oil lamp. Selection of the models, and the briefing of judges and contestants took place on the same day. The second day was allotted for the actual competition with different time slots for the five categories followed by the awards ceremony. Participants could enter for any or all of five of the categories that were offered. The most interesting genre were Nail Art, Bridal Make-up and Fantasy. While amazing designs were artistically painted on artificial nails in the first category, the last had models made up in some of the most fascinating hair dos - a spider's web, a tree, earth and the year 3000 look, to mention just a few. The Bridal Make-up segment featured traditionally attired 'brides' from the participating countries who looked stunning after the contestants had finished with them. The other categories included Ladies' Hair Cut and Blow Dry, Gents' Hair Cut and Blow Dry and Ladies' Evening Hairstyle.

Bhabis had entered only one category - that of Bridal Make-up in which they secured the third runner-up position out of 58 participants. Claims an excited Rohana, "It is such an exhilarating feeling when you hear your country's name being called out repeatedly as one of the winning participants...at first we couldn't believe it!" The winner was from Philippines, while Korea grabbed the second runners-up position. Korea also walked off with the Grand Champion trophy, which is given to a country participating in at least three categories and securing the maximum points during the entire competition.

After hosting the competition for three consecutive years, SLAHAB has now offered Pakistan the opportunity to be the hosting country in the year 2000. Rohana has asked for confirmation time till March for she is diffident about the response from the government as well as the private sector. As is standard practice abroad, when a project of this calibre is undertaken, hotels, airlines and even the government steps into the picture to ensure the best possible deals be made available to secure maximum participation. However, in the case of Pakistan, she is apprehensive about the response being enthusiastic.

One hopes that our private and public sector will also wake up to the fact that events such as this are excellent for the country's image and can help boost our dead tourism industry. What better time to take the initiative than at the beginning of the new millennium?