MEGHNA NAGARAJAN OF GEORGIA IS
MISS INDIA USA 2003
New
Jersey: In a glittering function organized by the New York
based IFC, Meghna Nagarajan of Georgia was crowned Miss India
USA 2003. Rekha Muddaraj of Arizona was placed as the First
Runner-Up and Subrina Dhammi of New York got the Second Runner-Up
position. The other two five finalists were Anjali Bhardwaj
of New York and Sheena Patel of Massachusetts. Niteen Group
of Hotels was the Exclusive presenter of the pageant and was
presented in cooperation with Air-India, Maaza Beverages &
ITV. The pageant in its twenty-second year is the oldest Indian
pageant in the USA and has been aptly called "mother
of all Indian pageants in the USA."
The
pageant was held at the Ramada Plaza & Conference Center
in Edison, New Jersey, and was attended by over five hundred
people. Meghna, 19, is in her second year at Georgia Tech
and her hobbies include singing, dancing and reading. She
plans to pursue a career in Electrical Engineering and also
do her MBA. Meghna also won the best talent contest where
she sang the famous song "Choli Ke Peche" from the
movie Khalnayak in the two different voices of Ila Arun and
Alka Yagnik. The other sub contests were won by the following:
Miss Supermodel In Style - Rekha Muddaraj (Arizona), Miss
Photogenic - Rohini Jain (Georgia), Miss Beautiful Hair -
Palvi Waghela (Texas), Miss Beautiful Smile - Rekha Muddaraj
(Arizona), Miss Congeniality - Kashish Chopra (Massachusetts).
As
Miss India USA, Meghna will represent USA in the upcoming
Miss India Worldwide Pageant to be held on September 27 in
San Francisco, California. Meghna will compete with 30 other
contestants from across the world for the title of Miss India
Worldwide.
Twenty-four
contestants representing 20 states traveled to participate
in this year pageant. "I made more friends this weekend
than in my entire life" exclaimed Kashish Chopra who
got the Miss Congeniality award. The contest commenced with
a dazzling opening dance number led by Priya Arora, the outgoing
Miss India USA, which was welcomed by a thunderous applause
from the packed ballroom.
In
the Indian and Evening gown segment that followed, each contestant
presented her best, after which top ten contestants were selected.
These ten contestants later displayed their talent in the
form of movie-based dance, classical dances, acting, singing
and speech. The panel of judges included Seema Andhare, Chief
Judge, (Regional Director - Air-india), Tariq Khan (MetLife),
Bharat Jotwani (Bollywood show organizer), David Lawrence
(Publisher - Supermodels Unlimited) and Sudha Shekhar (Classical
dance exponent). Dharmangi Bhatia CPA did the tabulation.
Kalanjali,
Satrangi, Arya Dance Academy, Teena Sukharam Group and Saurabh
Jain presented entertainment for the evening. The choreography
was done by Teena Sukharam and emcees were Stacy Issac - Miss
India USA 2001 and Obaid Kadwani - a TV personality and model.
Dharmatma
Saran, Chairman and Founder of the IFC thanked the sponsors
and presented them with an appreciation plaque. "I am
overwhelmed with the support we have received from the community
as always, said Saran, "which enables us to promote Indian
values and performing arts among the Indian youth in America."
"Air-India is proud to associate itself with this noble
cause of promoting Indian values, culture and traditions"
said Seema Andhare, Regional Director of Air-India.
The
pageant was followed by a lavish dinner catered by Madras
Mahal and dance.
