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 Congratulations to
Richa Gangopadhyay
Miss India USA 2007!
RICHA GANGOPADHYAY CROWNED NATIONWIDE MISS INDIA USA 2007
In a glittering function organized on December 28th at the Royal Alberts Palace , Fords, New Jersey, Richa Gangopadhyay of Michigan was crowned Nationwide Miss India USA 2007. Miss India USA is the longest running Indian pageant outside of India. The twenty-sixth annual pageant was organized by the New York-based IFC, headed by Dharmatma Saran, Founder and the Chief Organizer of the Pageant, in association with Royal Alberts Palace. Nationwide, the financial services firm, was the title sponsor of the pageant.
Richa, 21, is in her final year at the Michigan State University majoring in Dietetics and Nutrition and enjoys dance, music, movies and teaching children about health and nutrition. Richa also won the title of Miss Photogenic. She was crowned by outgoing queen Ayushka Singh. Richa will represent USA in the Seventeenth Annual Miss India Worldwide Pageant, also organized by IFC, to be held on February 23, 2008, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Neha Multani, 22, of New York and Nisha Palvia, 18, of Georgia were respectively declared first and second runners up among 24 contestants from various parts of the country, in the gala event attended by over six hundred people. The other five finalists were Mohar Chaudhury of Texas and Sarika Shah of New Jersey.
The pageant started with a stunning performance by all the contestants led by Ayushka Singh. All contestants presented their best in the Indian and the Evening Gown segment after which the top ten were selected. The top ten contestants then amazed the audience with their talent which included Bollywood dances, Kathak, Bharat Natyam, violin as well as poetry recitation and singing. Winners of the various sub-contests were Priyanca Mody of Delaware Miss Beautiful Smile, Madhu Punjabi of California Miss Beautiful Eyes and Miss Congeniality, Neha Multani of New York Miss Beautiful Skin, Nisha Palvia of Georgia Miss Beautiful Hair, and Mohar Chaudhury of Texas Best Talent.
Dharmatma Saran presented an appreciation plaque to Tariq Khan of Nationwide, Albert Jasani of Royal Alberts Palace, Shekhar Rahate and Sonalee Vyas for their enthusiastic support in organizing the function. I am very thankful to the Indian community for its support through the years, said Dharmatma Saran, and especially thankful to Tariq Khan of Nationwide for supporting the pageant as title sponsor. We are very happy to be part of this pageant, since it promotes Indian culture and values, said Tariq Khan of Nationwide, and would love to continue our title sponsorship for the coming years.
Stacy Issac Miss India USA 2001 and Bhavna Toor Miss India New York 2001 were emcees for the function. Entertainment was provided by Arya Dance Academy, Divya Jain Group, Bohemia The Punjabi Rapper, Singers Janice Miller & Chirag Trivedi and Best Talent of last Miss India Worldwide - Sapna Sehravat of Canada. Another highlight of the evening was a dazzling fashion show by Shekhar Rahate.
The panel of judges included Dr. Hemant Patel President of AAPI, Tariq Khan - Vice President of Marketing & Diversity at Nationwide, Praveen Kumar - Counsel Political & Community Affairs at the Indian Consulate, Sudha Shekhar Choreographer and classical dance exponent, Dr. Lorenzo Ottaviano patron of Indian performing arts and Janice Miller - internationally acclaimed singer. Ganga Mukkavilli was the official CPA for the Pageant assisted by Divya Mathur and Kiran Hari. The choreography was done by Shekhar Rahate and Sonalee Vyas.
Richa Gangopadhyay being crowned by outgoing queen, Ayushka Singh
Richa being congratulated by first runner-up, Neha Multani (R) and second runner-up, Nisha Palvia (L)
Richa with the chief organizers, Neelam and Dharmatma Saran
The Panel of Judges: (from L to R) Tariq Khan, Janice Miller, Sudha Shekhar, Praveen Kumar, Dr. Hemant Patel and Dr. Lorenzo Ottaviano
Best Talent: Mohar Chaudhury
The Top Five Finalists: (from L to R) Neha Multani, Mohar Chaudhury, Sarika Shah, Richa Gangopadhyay and Nisha Palvia
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MISS INDIA USA 2006
Click here to see the photo gallery!
In a glittering function organized on December 24 at the Royal Albert’s Palace , Fords, New Jersey, Ayushka Singh of Las Vegas, Nevada was crowned Miss India USA 2006 . Miss India USA is the longest running Indian pageant outside of India and celebrated its silver anniversary this year. The twenty fifth annual pageant was organized by the New York-based IFC, headed by Dharmatma Saran , Founder and the Chief Organizer of the Pageant, in association with Royal Albert’s Palace.
Ayushka, 19, is a second year student who enjoys reading adventurous novels and dancing to ethnic tunes. Upon graduation, Ayushka plans on pursuing a career in pharmacy. Ayushka also won the title of Miss Beautiful Smile as well as Best Talent where she played the dhol and danced to the music of Bombay Dreams. She was crowned by outgoing queen and current Miss India Worldwide, Trina Chakravarty. Ayushka will represent USA in the Sixteenth Annual Miss India Worldwide Pageant to be held in March of 2007.
Nisha Mirchandani, 25 of New York and Ankita Baxi of Illinois were respectively declared first and second runner up among 26 contestants from various parts of the country, in the gala event attended by over six hundred people. The other five finalists were Shilpa Mamidi of California and Richa Gangopadhyay of Michigan.
The pageant started with a stunning performance by all the contestants led by Trina. All contestants presented their best in the Indian and the Evening Gown segment after which the top ten were selected. The top ten contestants then amazed the audience with their talent which included Bollywood dances, Kathak, Bharat Natyam as well as poetry recitation and classical singing. Winners of the various sub-contests were Hardeep Chahil of Michigan - Miss Photogenic, Soni Kumar of Missouri - Miss Beautiful Eyes, Richa Gangopadhyay of Michigan - Miss Congeniality and Farah Majid of Florida - Miss Popularity.
Dharmatma Saran presented appreciation plaque to Albert Jasani of Royal Albert’s Palace, Sudhir Vaishnav of Sahara One and Jayesh Mehta of Aum Events for their support in organizing the event. The other major sponsors of the event were Air India, Maaza Beverages and American Airlines.
Ganga Mukkavilli and Bhavna Toor were emcees for the function. Entertainment was provided by Satrangi School of Dance, Divya Jain Group and child prodigy Foram Parmar. The panel of judges included Dr. Neena Malhotra - Counsel Culture from the Indian Consulate, Dr. Shashi Agarwal - Cardiologist, Toral Mehta from the hit show Apprentice, Farook Khan - National Director Miss India South Africa and Hordy Cheng -- Supermodel. Former Miss India New York, Mrs. Dharmangi Bhatia was the official CPA for the Pageant. Sushmita Patel was the beautician of the event and the choreography was done by Shekhar Rahate and Sonalee Vyas. |
MISS INDIA USA 2005
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TRINA CHAKRAVARTY CROWNED
MISS INDIA USA 2005
In a dazzling function organized on August 20 at the prestigious Sun Dome , Tampa, Florida, Trina Chakravarty of Jacksonville, Florida, was crowned Miss India USA 2005. The twenty fourth annual function was organized by the New York-based India Festival Committee, headed by Dharmatma Saran, Founder and the Chief Organizer of the Pageant, in association with F.I.A. of Florida, Swapna Shah, Satya Shaw, and Chandrakant Patel.
Trina, 18, is a second year student at University of Florida . Her hobbies include Indian classical dancing and she plans to become a surgeon to help accident victims. Trina is fluent in three languages - English, French and Bengali. Trina was crowned by the outgoing queen, Reshoo Pande. "Incidentally, Trina's mother Aparna, was Miss India New York in 1982," said Dharmatma Saran, Chairman, IFC, which has been organizing the pageant since 1980. Saran further stated, "for the first time in twenty five years history of the pageant in the USA , a mother-daughter duo has bagged the crown either at the state or national level." Trina will now represent USA in the Fifteenth Annual Miss India Worldwide pageant to be held in Mumbai , India , on December 3. Miss India USA is the oldest Indian pageant outside India .
Nisha Mirchandani, 24, and Tashi Sharma, 22, both from New York were respectively declared first and second runner up among 33 contestants from various parts of the country, in the gala event attended by over three thousand people. The other five finalists were Seema Srivastava of Ohio and Khyati Gupta of Mississippi .
All contestants presented their best in the Indian and the Evening Gown segment after which the top ten were selected. The top ten contestants then enthralled the audience with their talent which included movie dances, Kathak, Bharat Natyam as well as speech, skit and singing. Winners of the various sub-contests were Kavita Kumar of Pennsylvania - Miss Beautiful Smile, Chandani Desai of Florida - Miss Photogenic, Reemal Prasad of California - Miss Beautiful Hair, Seema Srivastava of Ohio - Miss Beautiful Eyes, Shruti Challa of Kansas - Miss Congeniality and Nikita Goel of North Carolina got the Best Talent Award.
One highlight of the pageant was a bollywood dance performance by the movie actress Preeti Jhangiani, who specially flew in from India for the event. Dharmatma Saran presented appreciation plaque to Satya Shaw, Chandrakant Patel and Swapna Shah for their support in organizing the event. Dr. Kiran Patel was also honored as "philanthropist of the year" on this occasion.
Ganga Mukkavilli, Purva Merchant and Stacy Issac were emcees for the function. Entertainment was provided by Silentz Killer from Georgia , Miami Mast from Florida and Ravi Jakhotia. The panel of judges included Air India Regional Director Promod Gupta, Anjana Trivedi - Fashion designer from India , Dr. Pallavi Patel - Pediatrician and Philanthropist, Renu Khatour - Provost University of South Florida, Dr. Shashi Agarwal - Cardiologist and Dr. Amit Charavorty from Alabama . Former Miss India New York , Mrs. Dharmangi Bhatia was the official CPA for the Pageant. Choreography was done by Divya Kumar and Tricia Bhim.
"I am very happy with the tremendous response for the pageant," said Satya Shaw, The Event Chairperson, and "hope to bring it back to Tampa soon." Swapna Shah, Chairperson of the host committee proposed the vote of thanks.
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Trina Chakravarty being crowned by the outgoing queen Reshoo Pande
Top Three (from left to right)
Nisha Mirchandani (First Runner Up, Trina Chakravarty (Winner), and Tashi Sharma (Second Runner Up)
The Top Three with Tampa host Satya & Rajeshree Shaw and IFC Organizers Neelam & Dharmatma Saran
Top Five (from left to right)
Trina Chakravarty, Seema Sirvastava, Tashi Sharma, Khyati Gupta, and Nisha Mirchandani
The Judges (from left to right)
Dr. Pallavi Patel (Pediatrician & Philanthropist), Promod Gupta (Regional Director of Air India), Anjana Trivedi (Fashion Designer from India), Dr. Shashi Aggarwal (Cardiologist), Renu Khatour (Provost City Of South Florida), and Dr. Amit Chakravarty (from Alabama)
Dr. Kiran Patel being honored by Mr Dharmatma Saran as Philanthropist of the Year
Bollywood Actress Priti Jhangiani giving a dance performance
Trina Chakravarty being congratulated by Nisha Mirchandani (First Runner Up) and Tashi Sharma (Second Runner Up)
Nisha & Tashi flanked by the choreographers Tricia Bhim & Divya Kumar
Reshoo Pande with the Top Three
Top Three flanked by Anjana Trivedi & Shivani Trivedi
Meet The Contestants
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MISS INDIA USA 2004
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RESHOO PANDE IS MISS INDIA USA 2004
In a dazzling function organized on October 2 at Wilkins Theatre in New Jersey, Reshoo Pande of Jackson, Mississippi was crowned Miss India USA 2004. The twenty-third annual function was organized by the New York-based India Festival Committee, headed by Dharmatma Saran, Founder and the Chief Organizer of the Pageant, in association with Bharat Matrimony.com, Air-India and Maaza Beverages. Reshoo, 21 , is a senior at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. Her hobbies include dancing, singing, reading John Grisham books and watching "Law and Order." She plans to be a certified accountant and become a tax attorney.
Reshoo and Diva Ranade (New Jersey) tied for the title of winner after the Question & Answer segment. Both finalists then verbally answered a tie-breaking question, the tabulation of which led Reshoo to be crowned the winner and Diva Ranade First Runner-Up. The other five finalists included Subrina Dhammi of New York (Second Runner-Up), Juhi Shukla of Virginia, and Sonia Seernani of Georgia.
Twenty-Two contestants led by the outgoing queen, Meghna Nagarajan entered the stage with thunderous applause by a packed audience of over five hundred people. All contestants presented their best in the Indian and the Evening Gown segment after which the top ten were selected. The top ten contestants then enthralled the audience with their talent which included movie dances, Kathak, Bharat Natyam as well as a highly unusual and creative performance from Julie Kathoria of North Carolina, who wowed the audience by performing a duet simultaneously wearing a female costume of a lehenga from the front and a male costume and mask from the back. Julie went on to bag the subcontest title of Best Talent with her performance. She also won Miss Beautiful Smile. Other winners of the various sub-contests were Juhi Shukla of Virginia - Miss Popular Choice as voted on Bharat Matrimony.com; Sumehra Premji of Georgia - Miss Beautiful Eyes; Diva Ranade of New York - Miss Popularity judged by the number of ads purchased in her name and Shweta Patel of New York - Miss Congeniality. Diva Ranade also got the title of Miss Beautiful Hair and Miss Photogenic title went to the winner Reshoo Pande.
One highlight of the pageant was a fashion extravaganza choreographed and featuring the clothing designed by well-known fashion designer Feroze Alam on live music and with top American models.
Former Queens Sharan Gill (Miss India USA 1999) and Stacy Issac (Miss India USA 2001) hosted the event with much verve.
Entertainments were provided by Sonalee Vyas and her dance group Naach Sensation; Rupal Patel's dance group Arya Dance Academy; Rohit Baxi's dance group Satrangi; Meghna lathigara of Sakhiyan and Sudha Shekhar's Kalaanjali school of dance. In addition, "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" winner Saurabh Jain serenaded the top five contestants after the Q&A round with the song "Maine jisse abhi abhi dekha hai" from the movie "Kal Ho Naa Ho."
The panel of judges included Air India Regional Director Seema Andhare; Kamal Dandona of Bollywood Movie Awards; National Director and prominent journalist Farook Khan from South Africa; Miss India Worldwide Purva Merchant from India; Piyush Pandya - Producer and Director of movie American Desi; President of the Miss Asia Universe Pageant Anna Ling and former Miss Chinese New York Jessie Liu;
Former Miss India New York, Mrs. Dharmangi Bhatia of Bear Stearns was the official CPA for the Pageant. Dharmatma Saran Chairman and Founder of the pageant presented appreciation plaques to the title sponsor - J. Murugavel of BharatMatrimony.com, and Grand Sponsors - Air-India, Maaza and Albert Jesani of Royal Albert Palace. Hari Srinivas, Country Head of B4U hosting a search for two Veejays through this pageant..
Reshoo Pande will represent the USA in the fourteenth annual Miss India Worldwide Pageant to be held in Mumbai, India in January of 2005 to be held in conjunction with Pravasi Bhartiya Divas.
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Pictures
By:
Suresh Jilla
Reshoo Pande being crowned by the outgoing queen Megna Nagarajan
Diva Ranade - First Runner Up
Subrina Dhammi - Second Runner Up
Top Three
Sonia Seernani - Top Five
Juhi Shukla - Top Five
The Top Five
Julie Kathoria
Best Talent & Miss Beautiful Smile
Reshoo Pande - Miss Photogenic
Diva Ranade
Miss Beautiful Hair & Miss Popularity
Shweta Patel - Miss Congeniality
Sumehra Premjee - Miss Beautiful Eyes
Juhi Shukla - People's Choice Award
The Top Ten
Mrs. Seema Andhare. Regional Director, Air-India, being honored by the Chairman Dharmatma Saran
Reshoo Pande with J. Murugavel, CEO of the Title Sponsor - BharatMatrimony.com & organizers Neelam and Dharmatma Saran
The Judges - (from L to R) Anna Ling, Purva Merchant, Kamal Dandona, Seema Andhare, Farook Khan, Jessie Liu and Piyush Pandya
Reshoo Pande with the organizers Neelam & Dharmatma Saran
Meet The Contestants
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MISS INDIA USA 2003
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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.
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Pictures
By:
Suresh Jilla & M. N. Akhtar
Meghna Nagarajan being crowned by the outgoing queen Priya
Arora
Rekha Muddaraj - First Runner Up
Subrina Dhammi - Second Runner Up
Top Three
Anjali Bharadwaj - Top Five
Sheena Patel - Top Five
The Top Five
Meghna Nagarajan - Best Talent
Rekha Muddaraj - Super Model In Style
Rohini Jain - Miss Photogenic
Palvi Waghela - Miss Beautiful Hair
Kashish Chopra - Miss Congeniality
Rekha Muddaraj - Miss Beautiful Smile
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MISS INDIA USA 2002
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Priya
Arora being crowned by the outgoing queen Stacy Isaac
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Gayatri
Patel - First Runner Up
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Megha
Lathigara -Second Runner Up
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Rohini
Jain - Top Five
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June
Dhar - Top Five
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Top
Three
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Roma
Patel - Miss Beautiful Eyes
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Gayatri
Patel - Miss Beautiful Smile
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Gayatri
Patel - Best Talent
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Actress
& Model Anupma Verma flanked by Sarika Sukhdeo Miss India Worldwide
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Babu
Bhai & Versha Patel being honored
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Neelam
& Dharmatma Saran being honored by Sarika Sukhdeo
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Choreographers
Devya Kumar & Rani Khetarpal with Sarika and Stacy
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Stacy
receiving her prize from Dharmatma Saran
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Mohammed
Akhtar with Gayatri Patel
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The
Top Ten
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Some
contestants...
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Dr
Shashi Agarwal with winners
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Top
Five with Sarika and Stacy
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Ankeeta
with Gayatri Patel
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Neelam
& Dharmatma Saran with winners
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MEET
THE CONTESTANTS
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Anu
Karna
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Farzana
Virnani
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Asha
Varghese
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Neeta
Sharma
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Bijal
Patel
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Neerja
Soni
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Praneet
Kailey
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Amrita
Persaud
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Shilpa
Patel
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Amy
Patel
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Sonpreet
Bhatia
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Tanya
Madhan
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Rosie
Thakker
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Ami
Patel
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Roohi
Khan
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Vinita
Thaper
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Gagandeep
Grover
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Sveta
Sinha
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Megha
Lathigara
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Priya
Arora
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June
Dhar
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Pooja
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Rohini
Jain
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Gayatri
Patel
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Suangna
Kalra
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Jassica
David
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Roma
Patel
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Arjot
Sandhu
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Hema
Sathia
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MISS INDIA USA 2001
STACY
ISSAC OF FLORIDA IS MISS INDIA USA 2001
In a glittering
function organized by the New York based India Festival Committee, Stacy
Issac of Florida was crowned Miss India USA 2001. The pageant was presented
in co-operation with AirIndia, TV Asia and Maaza Beverages. The
pageant in its twentieth year, was held at the Union County Arts Center,
Rahway in New Jersey. Stacy, 19, is in her second year at Florida Atlantic
University and wants to pursue a career in pediatrics as she “
simply adores working with children and truly admire the sincerity and
purity of their hearts.” Stacy also bagged the Sulekha.com “Miss
Photogenic” online contest and “Best Talent” contest
where she performed a dance number entitled Rhythm of Life choreographed
in Bharat Natyam style.
As Miss
India USA, Stacy won prizes over 55000 which includes a round-trip ticket
to India on AirIndia, 51000 cash and various other prizes. She
will also represent USA in the Eleventh Miss India Worldwide Pageant
to be held in San Jose, California, on March 9, 2002. She will also
work as Ambassador for higher education for women through Helena Kaushik
Women’s College in India. Uzma Enayatulla (Virginia) was declared
the First Runner-Up and Pareeta Mehta (Georgia) Second Runner-Up. The
other two finalists were Payal Patel (Arizona) and Priya Chokshi (Texas).
Amrita Shergill (New York) got “Miss Beautiful Eyes” and Jigna
Chitalia of New Hampshire got “Miss Beautiful Smile” while
Anahita Dua of Wisconsin bagged “Miss Congeniality” award.
A record
number of 32 contestants from 26 states traveled to participate in this
year pageant. “I made more friends this weekend than in my entire
life” exclaimed Anahita Dna winner of miss Congeniality award.
The contest commenced with the 32 beauties in a dazzling opening dance
number led by Teena Sookhramwala and Ritu Upadhyay, the outgoing Miss
India USA was welcomed by a thunderous applause of over one thousand
strong audience. Ritu also shared her exl)erience as Miss India USA,
which included meeting with various celebrities, interview at the prestigious
Movers and Shakers by Shekhar Suman and her traveling around the world
including two trips each to South Africa and India.
In the
evening 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 filni-based dance, classical
dances, acting, singing and poetry recital. The panel of Judges included
Usha Mathur (a cultural activist and wife of Yogesh Mathur, Regional
Director of Air-India), April Thibcault - Miss Massachusetts, Anjana
Trivedi - Fashion Designer, Suneil Anand (Actor/Producer and son of
Dev Anand), Satya Shaw from Tennessey and Dr. Surendra Kaushik - Professor
at Pace University. Ganga Mukkavilii and Associates CPA did the tabulation.
One of
the highlights of the pageant was a fashion extravaganza presented by
upcoming fashion designer, Feroze. Sudha Shekhar group, Sonalee Vyas
and Arya International presented other entertainment items for the evening.
Another highlight of this year pageant was Miss Photogenic contest online
sponsored by Sulekha.com where over 1500 visitors voted for the contest
online and selected the winner.
“The
pageant was altogether a great experience. All other contestants were
very well PrePared which made the competition very rewarding as well
as challenging,” said Payal Patel who represented the State of
Arizona.
Dharmatma
Saran, Chairman and Founder of the India Festival Committee thanked
the sponsors and presented appreciation plaque to Yogesh Mathur, Regional
Director of Air-India and HR. Shah - CEO of TV Asia. “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.”
Pooja Kumar,
MTV Veejay and former Miss India USA, Kulraj Anand a radio broadcaster
and Anil Srivatsa - a TV personality emceed the event.
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Stacy
Issac - Miss India USA 2001
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Uzma
Enayatulla - First Runner Up
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Pareeta
Mehta - Second Runner Up
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Payal
Patel - Finalist
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Priya
Chokshi - Finalist
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Best
Talent - Stacy Issac
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Sulekha.com
Miss Photogenic - Stacy Issac
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Miss
Beauiful Eyes - Amrita Shergill
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Miss
Beautiful Smile - Jigna Chitalia
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Miss
Congeniality - Anahita Dua
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The
Judges
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Fashion
Show by Feroze
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