Name : Gul Kirat Panag Height : 5' 7" Date of Birth : Jan 3, 1977 Zodiac Sign : Capricorn Titles won : Miss India 1999

Now-a-days , you can see this dimple cheeked girl from Chandiragh in at least two music videos.

She always wanted to do something great in life and leave her mark," says an elated Col. Shamsher Singh, Gul's grandfather, upon her winning Miss India 1999.

Since she comes from an Army background, Gul has had her education at various places in the country and abroad. Born in Chandigarh, she learnt her alphabets at a school in Patiala. When her father was sent on an assignment to Russia, she continued to study in a school at Bassi Pathana, near Chandigarh, and stayed with her grand-parents.

She is an alumnus of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sector 31, Chandigarh. She also studied at Lawrence School, Lovedale, Ooty.

Gul, who doesn't have any modelling experience so far, started preparing for the Femina contest in August last year. A Bombay photographer, Prakash Jha, made her portfolio and advised her to shed some weight from her 56 kilos since her "jaw line was not showing as prominently as it should have."

Taking Jha's advise seriously, Gul immediately joined a gymnasium and got on to a strict exercise regimen which involved jogging, body toning and diet control. Her new portfolio wasn't circulated at all and was sent only for the Femina contest.

Prior to the Femina Miss India crown, Gul bagged the Colgate Miss Beautiful Smile contest in Chennai.

Gul Panag Says :

AS an eight-year-old, I dreamed that I wanted to be a beauty queen. All I saw in it, then, was the fame and glamour. My dream came true, but with it also came the realisation that to achieve anything in life, a lot more needs to be done than just dream. After I had decided to chase this dream, came the task of getting my act together. My pictures were selected. I was called to Delhi for the preliminary judging. I went in full of confidence, but all those gorgeous girls did not exactly boost it. All I could do was pray - I wanted to clear the prelims and be a finalist, knowing that in itself would open up a lot of opportunities for me. Winning the crown was the last thing on my mind then.

For me beauty is that which brings out the inner self of a person. Describing actress Dmple Kapadia, writer Arundhati Roy and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu as her concept of "truly beautiful" people, Gul Panag adds: "While physical beauty is the extension of nature, it is the inner self that really extends the concept of genuine beauty.

Giving partial credit to the Indian Army for her success at the Femina Ms India pageant, Gul said, "The children of the people employed with the defence services get adequate exposure, which gives them confidence in themselves. This is perhaps the reason why we are seeing so many boys and girls from the defence background having an edge when they enter the glamour business."

Her concept of the man she would like is clear and focused. "Mr Right for me will be the man who is successful in his chosen career and has a vision for tomorrow. He must respect fidelity and have a sense of humor."

Behind Gul's pretty face and intelligent mind is another pretty face and intelligent mind, her well-known aunt Komal G.B.Singh, who helped steer her way through the competition to the sparkling crown. Komal's is the face that TV watchers have admired for a long time.

Gul also has a panache for languages and cooking. She speaks English, Hindi, a smattering of Tamil too ("because I studied at the Lawrence School Lovedale when my dad was posted in in Wellington, Ooty") and Spanish enough to last her "in Spain for a couple of days."

Fast-paced dance music flows out of her music system no matter what she's doing. "I love to listen to music while washing clothes, doing my bed up or reading. I also like instrumental music," she says. Gul wears sarees for formal occasions. The rest of the time, it is a pair of jeans. She's always been on top of the world (for a few years, Gul studied in an school in Leh, the highest school in the world). And now she has the highest position in the world of glamour.