Miss England Returns Home from Global Tourto Join Frontline Fight Against Covid英格兰小姐回国抗疫

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，來自英国德比郡、现年25岁的芭莎·慕克吉医生成了有史以来保留头衔时间最长的英格兰小姐。在这里，她将告诉我们她如何兼顾这个光鲜角色和医务工作。

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，在我赢得英格兰小姐选美冠军的第二天，我突然间回到现实世界。我刚从诺丁汉大学毕业，第一天到林肯郡波士顿的朝圣者医院当初级医生。

庆祝派对很晚才结束，然后我拖着所有的行李——英格兰小姐的行头、工作服，还有装在特制包装盒里的新桂冠——去赶凌晨4点从纽卡斯尔开往波士顿的火车。

我试图把精力集中在入职上，但我的电话一直响，电子邮件接连不断。一天下来，我的脚上起了一个大水泡，离开医院时只穿了一只鞋。

我不知道在楼外等候的媒体记者是怎么想的。我心想：“当上英格兰小姐真是不容易！”

但是，在荣膺英国第一位南亚裔英格兰小姐的历程中，这种生活已经成为常态。我要设法兼顾好学勤奋的一面和其他兴趣爱好——十多岁时的舞蹈和现在的模特。

我一直都很独立，穿梭于全国各地参加比赛和试镜。有一年，我考试成绩不好，父亲建议我暂停模特工作。

那时候，我告诉自己，“如果我想做一件事，就必须把另一件事做好。为了能跳舞或做模特，我必须先把学业搞好”。

我9歲时，父母从印度加尔各答移居英国。他们总是告诉我，找一份切合实际的工作非常重要。

父母希望我从医。在亚洲家庭中，医生是受人尊敬的职业。但从个人角度说，我也想从事学术工作。做一名医生能让你时刻打起精神，我也喜欢帮助别人解决问题的那种感觉。

努力有所作为

虽然选美冠军和医生似乎毫不相关，但是在某些方面，我去参加选美比赛和做医生是一样的。

我想要一个平台展示自己。我看到许多成功女性跨出选美行业，在各自领域闯出一片天地。

一开始，我并没有参加英格兰小姐比赛的想法。少数族裔女性参加这种比赛会很麻烦，在她们代表着哪个人群的问题上也许会遭遇身份认同危机——后来有一天，“英格兰小姐亚洲面孔”主办方联系到我。

我赢了这场比赛，并由此开始进军英格兰小姐大赛。

选美比赛不断革新。这次英格兰小姐比赛取消了泳装环节，引入创新元素，要求我们都穿上同样的服装，完全素颜出场。

为了去试镜动辄花几千美元做造型，但选美比赛中不是每个人都能这么做。这场比赛是展示真实的自己，是一种解放。

当然，决赛时，你要穿上华丽的晚礼服，但最后评判的依据是决赛选手们几个月来的辛苦付出。

虽然感觉良好，但是我没想到会赢。当你看到所有参赛佳丽们的水准时，你会信心大跌，但依然会全力以赴。我的成功来得太突然，感觉很不真实。

我继续工作了两个月，接下来申请了间隔年，专注于2019年12月在伦敦举办的“世界小姐”大赛，并且周游世界。

一时间，我乘飞机穿梭于世界各地，从土耳其到非洲，到印度。我当时并不知道，6个月后生活会再次发生翻天覆地的变化。

当新冠疫情刚开始肆虐时，我身在印度，准备开启亚洲之旅。当时封城，我被困在一家酒店。

我的同事给我发疫情的相关信息，告诉我医院里忙得不可开交。我感觉自己毫无用处，我想，“我现在应该做些什么。”

把那种感觉称之为害怕错失，听起来会有些奇怪。但是我有一种强烈的愿望，我想成为抗击疫情的一分子。我的国家处于危难之中，是时候把我的桂冠先放一放了。

从选美冠军到医生，两种角色无缝衔接，因为我深知我为什么要回国。短短一周的时间，这个世界改变了。

建立亲密关系

起初，我们并不知道疫情的发展趋势。人们都在为英国国民保健制度（NHS）点赞称好，我们感到惊喜又激动。我只是在做分内工作，突然间得到所有人的认可。

因此，我与朝圣者医院的同事们建立了非常亲密的关系。我个性内敛，从未想过在工作中会结识这样一群真诚的朋友。

甚至有些朋友来看我参加“世界小姐”大赛。由于共同抗击疫情，我们的关系更为亲密。

我写了一首诗，名为《无形的光环》，描写医务人员的坚持不懈、相互扶持，以及我们在疫情期间失去的“倒下的英雄”。

我们把这首诗拍成了影片，主角都是医院的医务人员，以此歌颂他们的敬业、奉献和牺牲。最后一幕，他们轮流戴上我的桂冠，象征着所有NHS员工都是英雄。

从那以后，我去了皇家德比医院，在泌尿外科病房工作。但是只要有需要，我们任何人都可以随时到新冠肺炎病房效力。

每天的生活都是白班和夜班12小时轮换，周末也是随叫随到。

只顾着照顾别人的时候，自己的身体健康往往会被置之脑后。当然，有时候我会疲惫不堪，会吃错东西，长时间戴口罩也容易让人生皮疹。

皮肤护理、合理饮食、锻炼身体，所有这些事情我都坚持长期用心去做。

健身房关闭了，我就通过网络锻炼。我使用含黄金成分的Cetuem护肤品。我的母亲米塔和我住在一起，她会给我做新鲜的美食。我试着由内而外慢慢恢复。

和所有人一样，我期待着今年有一个全新的开始。受疫情影响，英格兰小姐决赛推迟到4月份，所以我目前是保留头衔时间最长的英格兰小姐冠軍。

我希望旅行禁令解除后，我能够以本届英格兰小姐的身份做更多慈善工作。

我已经证明，现在做一名选美冠军的含义今非昔比。

能够代表英国，同时展现我的印度特色，我非常骄傲。我的长期目标是成为一名全科医生，我希望通过我的平台教人们如何预防2型糖尿病或心脏病等疾病。

正如英格兰小姐大赛的口号所说，美丽皆有意义。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）