Hard to tell when you see the \'Made in Nepal' girl Monica Chand in advertisements that the confident-looking face belongs to a 19-year-old high school girl from Kathmandu. Monica is already a "household face" in Nepal, easily recognised when she goes out to shop or eat. She has also made up her mind about what she wants to be when she grows up:
a fashion designer. "I want to represent Nepal through fashiondesigning," she says, and Monica would like to go abroad to widen her wings and get a broader perspective on the world. Despite the glamour that has come with modelling, Monica at home is as normal a girl as any. A bit shy and reluctant to open up in the beginning, but increasingly animated as she talks about her passion in life or about her career. She loves to read Agatha Christie whodunits, and she also imagines herself as the main character in Mills & Boon stories. She is a vegetarian and loves titaura and fried instant noodles (mmm, I'd go easy on the junk food, Monica, have to watch that complexion). How does it feel to have a huge billboard with your face staring down at you at Bagmati Bridge? Many people who see the billboard, the newspaper ads or the television commercial are shocked to hear that Monica is actually a full-blooded Nepali.
She is tired of people who ask her where in Europe she is from. Actually her family is from Baitadi in western Nepal. And what does she feel about the fairness cream that she models for, is the colour of a person's skin important? "No, it's not important," she says. "What is important is what is inside. Intelligence and personality are more important." Although she has been portrayed as a vibrant, modern girl in the commercials she appears on, Monica seldom goes out and prefers to spend time reading or watching television at home. Dad is retired army colonel Lal Bahadur Chand, who is quite protective of Monica and her two sisters. He vets all visitors, including journalists.
We take a careful look at the colonel and drop the inevitable question about boys. Monica fields the question with a diplomatic "I'll only think about it once I am fully independent, but definitely not an army man.
