Miss England Returns Home from Global Tourto Join Frontline Fight Against Covid英格蘭小姐回國(guó)抗疫

Due to the pandemic， Dr Bhasha Mukherjee， 25， from Derby， has become the longest-serving Miss England ever. Here， she tells us how she balances that glamorous role with life on the wards.由于疫情，來(lái)自英國(guó)德比郡、現(xiàn)年25歲的芭莎·慕克吉醫(yī)生成了有史以來(lái)保留頭銜時(shí)間最長(zhǎng)的英格蘭小姐。在這里，她將告訴我們她如何兼顧這個(gè)光鮮角色和醫(yī)務(wù)工作。

The day after I won Miss England in July 2019， I came back down to earth with quite a bump. Id just graduated from Nottingham University， and was starting my first day as a junior doctor at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston， Lincolnshire.

Id stayed up for the after-party and then had to catch the 4am train from Newcastle to Boston， dragging all my luggage—my Miss England outfit， work clothes and my new crown in its special case—with me.

I was trying to focus on the induction， but my phone kept ringing and I was bombarded with emails. By the end of the day， I had a huge blister on my foot and left the hospital with just one shoe on.

Im not sure what the waiting media， outside the building， made of it！ I thought to myself， “What a way to become Miss England！”

But thats been typical of my journey to become the countrys first South Asian Miss England. Its been a question of balancing my geeky， studious side with my other interests—first dancing when I was a teen and now modelling.

Ive always been independent， travelling all over the country for competitions and castings. One year， when I underperformed in exams， my dad suggested I put modelling on hold.

Thats when I told myself， “If I want to do one， I have to do the other right. To be able to dance or model， I have to make sure I do my work too.”

My parents， who came to the UK from Kolkata， India， when I was nine， always drummed into1 me the importance of getting a sensible job.

There was an expectation Id go into medicine—its a revered profession in Asian families—but on a personal level I also wanted an academic career. Being a medic keeps you on your toes and I enjoy the feeling when you help fix someones problems.

Making a difference

Although being a beauty queen and a medic might sound like two very different things， in some ways I was drawn to competing in pageants for the same reason.

I wanted a platform for myself， and Ive seen a lot of successful women come out of the industry and make a difference in their field of work.

The thought of entering Miss England hadnt occurred to me—it can be complicated for ethnic minority women here who might have an identity crisis about who they represent—until the organisers of Asian Face of Miss England got in touch.

I won that competition， and from there I progressed to Miss England.

Beauty pageants have evolved. Theres no swimwear round and Miss England introduced a ground-breaking element this time which had us all turning up in the same outfit， with no make-up on at all.

When you go to castings its easy to spend thousands on a look， but not? ? ? ?everyone can compete with that. This was about being yourself and it was liberating.

Of course， for the finals you put on a glamorous evening dress， but the judgement is made on months of hard work the finalists put in.

I had a good feeling， but I wasnt expecting to win. When you see the standard of all the women competing， your confidence nosedives， but you do your best. My victory hit me like a bus—it didnt feel real！

For two months I continued working， but then took a gap year to focus on the Miss World competition in December 2019 in London， and travel opportunities.

Suddenly， I was jetting across the world from Turkey to Africa to India， little knowing life was about to be turned upside down for the second time in six months.

When the pandemic first started to gather pace， I was in India at the start of a tour of Asia. There was a lockdown and I was stranded in a hotel.

My colleagues were messaging me about the Covid-19 pandemic and how busy the wards were. I felt useless and thought， “I should be doing something right now.”

It sounds weird to describe it as a fear of missing out， but I had a strong sense I wanted to be part of the effort to beat Covid. The country was in the middle of an emergency， and it was the right time to hang up my crown for a while.

The transition from beauty queen to medic again was seamless because in my head I knew why I was coming back. The world had changed in the space of just a week.

Forming close bonds

At the beginning， when we were all unsure where it was all heading， the clapping for the NHS was an amazing， emotional thing. I was just doing my job， but suddenly everyone was on our side.

As a result， I formed such a close bond with my colleagues at Pilgrim Hospital. Im quite an introverted person， and wasnt expecting to go to work and find such a genuine set of friends.

Some even came to watch me compete in Miss World， and because of the fight against the virus， weve become even closer.

I wrote a poem called Invisible Halo about the unceasing work of the staff， how we support each other， and “fallen heroes” wed lost during the pandemic.

We turned it into a film featuring staff at the hospital， to celebrate their duty， dedication and sacrifice. It closes with them taking turns to wear my crown， symbolising that all NHS workers are heroes.

Since then Ive moved on to the Royal Derby Hospital. I work on the urology ward， but when youre on call any of us can spend time on the Covid wards.

Life is a mix of 12-hour day and night shifts and weekends on call.

While youre caring for other people， your own health comes last. Of course， some days Im tired and Ill eat the wrong things， and wearing masks makes you prone to breakouts.

Everything I do—skincare， diet and exercise—I try to do mindfully， for the long term.

When the gyms were closed， I did online workouts instead. I use Cetuem products on my face， which are made with gold， and my mum Mita， who I live with， cooks me lovely fresh food. I try to heal from the inside.

Like everyone， Im looking forward to this year being a fresh start. Due to the pandemic， the Miss England finals have been postponed until April， so Im now the longest-serving winner.

Im hoping once the travel ban is lifted， Ill be able to do more charity work as the reigning Miss England.

Ive been able to show that being a beauty queen means so much more now.

Im proud to represent England as well as celebrate my Indian heritage， and while my long-term goal is to be a GP， Im keen to use my platform to educate people on preventative health care for conditions like Type 2 diabetes or heart disease.

As the Miss England slogan says， its all about beauty with a purpose.

2019年7月，在我贏得英格蘭小姐選美冠軍的第二天，我突然間回到現(xiàn)實(shí)世界。我剛從諾丁漢大學(xué)畢業(yè)，第一天到林肯郡波士頓的朝圣者醫(yī)院當(dāng)初級(jí)醫(yī)生。

慶祝派對(duì)很晚才結(jié)束，然后我拖著所有的行李——英格蘭小姐的行頭、工作服，還有裝在特制包裝盒里的新桂冠——去趕凌晨4點(diǎn)從紐卡斯?fàn)栭_(kāi)往波士頓的火車。

我試圖把精力集中在入職上，但我的電話一直響，電子郵件接連不斷。一天下來(lái)，我的腳上起了一個(gè)大水泡，離開(kāi)醫(yī)院時(shí)只穿了一只鞋。

我不知道在樓外等候的媒體記者是怎么想的。我心想：“當(dāng)上英格蘭小姐真是不容易！”

但是，在榮膺英國(guó)第一位南亞裔英格蘭小姐的歷程中，這種生活已經(jīng)成為常態(tài)。我要設(shè)法兼顧好學(xué)勤奮的一面和其他興趣愛(ài)好——十多歲時(shí)的舞蹈和現(xiàn)在的模特。

我一直都很獨(dú)立，穿梭于全國(guó)各地參加比賽和試鏡。有一年，我考試成績(jī)不好，父親建議我暫停模特工作。

那時(shí)候，我告訴自己，“如果我想做一件事，就必須把另一件事做好。為了能跳舞或做模特，我必須先把學(xué)業(yè)搞好”。

我9歲時(shí)，父母從印度加爾各答移居英國(guó)。他們總是告訴我，找一份切合實(shí)際的工作非常重要。

父母希望我從醫(yī)。在亞洲家庭中，醫(yī)生是受人尊敬的職業(yè)。但從個(gè)人角度說(shuō)，我也想從事學(xué)術(shù)工作。做一名醫(yī)生能讓你時(shí)刻打起精神，我也喜歡幫助別人解決問(wèn)題的那種感覺(jué)。

努力有所作為

雖然選美冠軍和醫(yī)生似乎毫不相關(guān)，但是在某些方面，我去參加選美比賽和做醫(yī)生是一樣的。

我想要一個(gè)平臺(tái)展示自己。我看到許多成功女性跨出選美行業(yè)，在各自領(lǐng)域闖出一片天地。

一開(kāi)始，我并沒(méi)有參加英格蘭小姐比賽的想法。少數(shù)族裔女性參加這種比賽會(huì)很麻煩，在她們代表著哪個(gè)人群的問(wèn)題上也許會(huì)遭遇身份認(rèn)同危機(jī)——后來(lái)有一天，“英格蘭小姐亞洲面孔”主辦方聯(lián)系到我。

我贏了這場(chǎng)比賽，并由此開(kāi)始進(jìn)軍英格蘭小姐大賽。

選美比賽不斷革新。這次英格蘭小姐比賽取消了泳裝環(huán)節(jié)，引入創(chuàng)新元素，要求我們都穿上同樣的服裝，完全素顏出場(chǎng)。

為了去試鏡動(dòng)輒花幾千美元做造型，但選美比賽中不是每個(gè)人都能這么做。這場(chǎng)比賽是展示真實(shí)的自己，是一種解放。

當(dāng)然，決賽時(shí)，你要穿上華麗的晚禮服，但最后評(píng)判的依據(jù)是決賽選手們幾個(gè)月來(lái)的辛苦付出。

雖然感覺(jué)良好，但是我沒(méi)想到會(huì)贏。當(dāng)你看到所有參賽佳麗們的水準(zhǔn)時(shí)，你會(huì)信心大跌，但依然會(huì)全力以赴。我的成功來(lái)得太突然，感覺(jué)很不真實(shí)。

我繼續(xù)工作了兩個(gè)月，接下來(lái)申請(qǐng)了間隔年，專注于2019年12月在倫敦舉辦的“世界小姐”大賽，并且周游世界。

一時(shí)間，我乘飛機(jī)穿梭于世界各地，從土耳其到非洲，到印度。我當(dāng)時(shí)并不知道，6個(gè)月后生活會(huì)再次發(fā)生翻天覆地的變化。

當(dāng)新冠疫情剛開(kāi)始肆虐時(shí)，我身在印度，準(zhǔn)備開(kāi)啟亞洲之旅。當(dāng)時(shí)封城，我被困在一家酒店。

我的同事給我發(fā)疫情的相關(guān)信息，告訴我醫(yī)院里忙得不可開(kāi)交。我感覺(jué)自己毫無(wú)用處，我想，“我現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該做些什么?！?/p>

把那種感覺(jué)稱之為害怕錯(cuò)失，聽(tīng)起來(lái)會(huì)有些奇怪。但是我有一種強(qiáng)烈的愿望，我想成為抗擊疫情的一分子。我的國(guó)家處于危難之中，是時(shí)候把我的桂冠先放一放了。

從選美冠軍到醫(yī)生，兩種角色無(wú)縫銜接，因?yàn)槲疑钪覟槭裁匆貒?guó)。短短一周的時(shí)間，這個(gè)世界改變了。

建立親密關(guān)系

起初，我們并不知道疫情的發(fā)展趨勢(shì)。人們都在為英國(guó)國(guó)民保健制度（NHS）點(diǎn)贊稱好，我們感到驚喜又激動(dòng)。我只是在做分內(nèi)工作，突然間得到所有人的認(rèn)可。

因此，我與朝圣者醫(yī)院的同事們建立了非常親密的關(guān)系。我個(gè)性內(nèi)斂，從未想過(guò)在工作中會(huì)結(jié)識(shí)這樣一群真誠(chéng)的朋友。

甚至有些朋友來(lái)看我參加“世界小姐”大賽。由于共同抗擊疫情，我們的關(guān)系更為親密。

我寫(xiě)了一首詩(shī)，名為《無(wú)形的光環(huán)》，描寫(xiě)醫(yī)務(wù)人員的堅(jiān)持不懈、相互扶持，以及我們?cè)谝咔槠陂g失去的“倒下的英雄”。

我們把這首詩(shī)拍成了影片，主角都是醫(yī)院的醫(yī)務(wù)人員，以此歌頌他們的敬業(yè)、奉獻(xiàn)和犧牲。最后一幕，他們輪流戴上我的桂冠，象征著所有NHS員工都是英雄。

從那以后，我去了皇家德比醫(yī)院，在泌尿外科病房工作。但是只要有需要，我們?nèi)魏稳硕伎梢噪S時(shí)到新冠肺炎病房效力。

每天的生活都是白班和夜班12小時(shí)輪換，周末也是隨叫隨到。

只顧著照顧別人的時(shí)候，自己的身體健康往往會(huì)被置之腦后。當(dāng)然，有時(shí)候我會(huì)疲憊不堪，會(huì)吃錯(cuò)東西，長(zhǎng)時(shí)間戴口罩也容易讓人生皮疹。

皮膚護(hù)理、合理飲食、鍛煉身體，所有這些事情我都堅(jiān)持長(zhǎng)期用心去做。

健身房關(guān)閉了，我就通過(guò)網(wǎng)絡(luò)鍛煉。我使用含黃金成分的Cetuem護(hù)膚品。我的母親米塔和我住在一起，她會(huì)給我做新鮮的美食。我試著由內(nèi)而外慢慢恢復(fù)。

和所有人一樣，我期待著今年有一個(gè)全新的開(kāi)始。受疫情影響，英格蘭小姐決賽推遲到4月份，所以我目前是保留頭銜時(shí)間最長(zhǎng)的英格蘭小姐冠軍。

我希望旅行禁令解除后，我能夠以本屆英格蘭小姐的身份做更多慈善工作。

我已經(jīng)證明，現(xiàn)在做一名選美冠軍的含義今非昔比。

能夠代表英國(guó)，同時(shí)展現(xiàn)我的印度特色，我非常驕傲。我的長(zhǎng)期目標(biāo)是成為一名全科醫(yī)生，我希望通過(guò)我的平臺(tái)教人們?nèi)绾晤A(yù)防2型糖尿病或心臟病等疾病。

正如英格蘭小姐大賽的口號(hào)所說(shuō)，美麗皆有意義。

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>