The father is said to be his daughter’s first love. From the moment he lays his eyes on her, she becomes the most valuable things in this entire world for him and the moment she opens her eyes he becomes her hero.

Dibyata Vaidya is the winner of Miss Nepal Earth 2015, and has done wonders for herself. She is the girl with the big dreams, but being from a middle class background, she had to go through many obstacles to get to where she is right now. But in all those struggles, she had one constant person to lean on -- her biggest supporter and fan, her father Mr. Dinesh Chand Vaidya.

Mr. Vaidya has supported his daughters through everything, and provided them with everything they needed without even a single sigh. He has always put his children’s needs before his own and has been the biggest supporter of his daughters, emotionally as well as financially. He made sure that his daughters had the best of everything. For him, his sacrifices seem worth it when he sees his children’s happiness.

There is one particular event that Dibyata recalls that changed the way she looked at things. Dibyata had her board exams coming up and she hadn’t received her admit card yet because of her outstanding fees at the college. This situation wasn’t something new to her as she and her family used to have several occasions of financial crunches. She had an argument with her father to clear her fees as her exams were only a week away. Two days later, her father handed her a lump sum of money to clear her dues. But soon enough Dibyata noticed that the engagement ring her father had been wearing was missing. She asked her mother about the missing ring, and with a heavy heart, her mother told her that her father had to sell the ring in order to pay for her college fee.

Dibyata: We had financial crunches, and there were times when it was really hard because everything was expensive and both sisters were also studying. Now I understand that it was difficult even if they never said anything to any one of us.  I have always tried to avoid extra expenses and I started to earn a little to help out.  So I understood from a young age and so did my sisters.  It still hurts me especially when I think about my father’s sacrifices, especially about his wedding ring.

When she heard what her mother had said, she became really angry and for the first time in her life she felt like she was a burden to her family. She cried a lot because of what her father had done -- selling his wedding ring, a symbol of love that was supposed to be endless and timeless. So Dibyata made up her mind that she was going to give her dad back for every sacrifice he had made for them. And years later, she was finally able to do so. She finally bought him his engagement ring for him and now her dad wears it every day with pride.

Dibyata: I always felt bad that he sold his ring for me and I wanted to do something nice for him. I saved money. Once I was financially strong, I waited for the right moment and I gave him the ring as thank you for all the sacrifices he made for us.

Mr. Vaidya: When she gave me the gift I was totally surprised. I had no idea that she was going to do that. She and her mother had planned it and I was totally shocked.

Dibyata: He was surprised and he was also like, ‘Why did you have to give me such an expensive gift?’ No one knew I was about to gift him that except for my mom because she knew more about gold and stuff and I had no idea about that. Otherwise it would have been a secret from everyone.

The More You Know

A friendly bond

Dibyata: I don’t have a daddy’s little girl kind of relationship. I respect him a lot and I think even he has a lot of respect for me after all the things I have done in my life. There were times when I used to be scared of him like all children are with their father. Now we share a friendly relationship.

I understood what he had to do and I used to be a very understanding kid. I didn’t demand much as a child. They understood by themselves, and provided me things that I needed. So it was a very understanding bond that I shared with my dad.

Family time

Dibyata:  During our free time, like most normal people, we like watching movies together or going out for dinner.

A fashionable daughter

Mr. Vaidya: From an early age, Dibyata was very fashionable. She used to steal her mom’s lipstick and apply it and sometimes even ruin it. She is really living her dream to the fullest.  

My superhero dad

Dibyata: I remember when I was a kid, me and my sisters used to walk to school every day because it was near from our house.  There was this one slope on the way that we used to love run down from it.  One day, as usual we were running down the slope when I got hit by a bike. I was crying from pain and I remember him carrying me up in his arms all the way to hospital. 

My all-rounder dad

Dibyata:  He knows almost everything, I don’t know how he knows, but somehow he does. He knows how to cook; he is even better than my mom. He is always up to date with news from all around the world. He is also known as the doctor of the family; not the certified doctor, but he knows what medicine to take and when to take it. He is also the one person everyone goes to when they need help. He is the guiding light of the family.

A chaser

Mr. Vaidya:  She is the girl who chased her dreams and made it come true. She went after her dreams and she worked hard to reach them and she finally did. She is a good chaser of dreams.

A determined daughter

Mr. Vaidya: I don’t even know if she remembers this or not, but I remember it crystal clear: when she was a kid she said to me, “Dad, when I grow up I’ll make a name for myself,” and that’s what she did.

Road to Miss Nepal

Mr. Vaidya: When I received a call from Miss Nepal saying that she hadn’t submitted her form, it made me angry. If it is your dream, you should be the first one to go and submit the form. She went at the last moment to submit her form.

Dibyata: What happened was I could not submit my form right after the opening because it was rainy season and I was sick. Everyone wanted me to participate in the pageant, especially my father.

Mr. Vaidya: When she finally participated in Miss Nepal I was happy. It was her childhood dream. Whenever anyone would ask her, what do you want to become when you grow up, she would always say Miss Nepal. From the early age of three, she had this dream of participating in Miss Nepal and now she did it.

Dibayta: I was inspired by Sushmita Sen, Miss India

A role model

Dibyata: Being the eldest, I always felt the pressure to be a good example for my younger sisters. If I did something bad or set a bad example, I felt that they would do the same and learn the same. So I always felt the pressure to be a good role model. But this pressure was never from my family. It was me who put the pressure on myself.  

I am sometime strict with my two sisters.  That is because I’ve been through that phase they are going through now and I know those things could lead them to do bad things.  So I am always nagging them and that’s why my younger sisters call me “Hitler Didi.” 

A lesson learned from one another

Dibyata: The one thing I learned from him is to work on details. He is very precise and detail oriented person. For example, when my mom is cooking and if there is one ingredient missing she wouldn’t mind but my dad needs every ingredient and if one is missing it wouldn’t work for him. The one thing that I have learned from him is whatever you do make sure you do it perfectly and completely.

Mr. Vaidya: I learned how to be determined and how to follow your dreams no matter what.

A proud moment

Mr. Vaidya: I have two moments in particular where I was very proud of her. One was when she graduated from college, it made me very proud, and the other one is obviously her winning Miss Nepal Earth Title.

Biggest supporter

Dibyata: As a kid you don’t have any idea about beauty pageants. Even at school, everyone used to say you should go and represent the school, and my dad never said no. He used to always encourage me and tell me to participate. He was my biggest supporter emotionally and financially.

Mr. Vaidya: When other kids used to play doctors or play with toys, she used to join coffee tables, make a ramp of them, and walk on it and model on it. It was her passion from the very young age and everyone would ask her, “When are you going to participate in Miss. Nepal?”

Dibyata: It was something I’ve been hearing from the very beginning. I think my father would have sent me to participate in Miss Nepal even if I wasn’t interested, but thank fully I got interested in it.

Thank you

Dibyata: You know how middle class families are. We don’t really express our feelings to each other. We’re not very comfortable doing that. However I think whatever he has done, I understand, and I really appreciate that. I know there were times when it was very difficult for him to fulfill all our needs, but he did fulfill them. So thank you for everything.

Mr. Vaidya: I gave my daughters what I could and when I couldn’t it was hard, but thank you for understanding.