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MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2007: Fareisa Joemmanbaks!| SURINAME GIRL CROWNED |  | MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2007 |
Royal Albert's Palace | Fords, NJ | April 8, 2007
Hosted by: Shweta Kawaatra and Pooja Kumar
 In a glamorous and glittering function , Fareisa Joemmanbaks of Suriname was crowned Filmy Miss India Worldwide 2007 held in Fords, New Jersey, on April 8, 2007. Fareisa won the coveted title beating 18 other beautiful contestants representing as many countries and yet taking pride in their country of origin, India.
Fareisa, 23, is a tourist professional from the Republic of Suriname and her hobbies include listening to music, dancing specially salsa and belly dance and traveling. This is for the first time in its sixteen year history that an Indo-Caribbean got the crown. She received prizes totaling over $15,000, including cash prize of $5,000 cash, an all-expense paid trip to South Africa, Trinidad, Australia, Netherlands and USA among other prizes. Fareisa was crowned by Trina Chakravarty of USA. the outgoing Miss India Worldwide.
Nadia Vorajee of South Africa and Sapna Sehravat of Canada were named first and second runners-up respectively, spreading this year's pageant award across three continents. The other two finalists were Snehali Naik of United Kingdom and Movina Nagarajan representing India. Sapna Sehravat also bagged the Best Talent award for her superb piano performance which included a fusion dance of Bharat Natyam and movie song. The other sub contest winners were Jaishree Manuferan of Singapore for Miss Beautiful Smile, Sabrina Bou Ali of Morocco for Miss Beautiful Eyes, Reneetha Veeraya of the Malaysia for Miss Beautiful Hair, Priya Singh of Fiji for Miss Beautiful Skin and Nadia Virajee of South Africa for Miss Photogenic and Miss Congeniality. Participants came from nineteen countries across the globe.
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 film-based dance, classical dances, acting, singing, poetry, and piano and sitar recital.
Hosted emceed by Shweta Kawaatra, TV anchor and actor, along with Pooja Kumar, a former Miss India USA and actress. In addition to the brilliant performances by children and youth from three popular school of dances, Kalanjali, Arya and Creations Dance Academy, the audience were treated to a live fashion show by Feroze with top American models.
The international panel of judges included judges from different countries. Tabulation was done by Dharmangi Bhatia, CPA. Pageant was choreographed by Shekhar Rahate and Sonalee Vyas.
"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 Sunita Vaz, contestant from France.
Dharmatma Saran, Founder of the Miss India Worldwide, thanked the sponsors and presented an appreciation plaque to Sudhir Vaishnav, CEO Filmy Television, Anil K. Mathur, Regional Director - Air-India, Shobhna Patel of Royal Albert's Palace among others. The National Director of the Year was presented to Sharla Lachchi-Rambhadjan of Netherlands.
The longest running international Indian pageant with affiliates in over twenty countries, the IFC is a pioneer organization in conducting Indian pageants and fashion shows in the USA and worldwide. The committee has also been conducting the Miss India New York and the Miss India USA pageants annually since 1980. Acclaimed as ' the most glamorous Indian function in the world', outside of India, the pageant has served as a platform for unifying the people of Indian origin scattered around the globe to come together and celebrate their rich heritage and oneness as part of the larger Indian Diaspora. "We will continue to promote Indian values and performing arts", said Dharmatma Saran, Chairman & Founder, "among the Indian youth around the world through pageantry."
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MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2006
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Pictures
Courtesy Of:
Baboo Narrandas
South Africa
& South African Airways
M. N. Akhtar - New York
Foto Fun:
Aidraan Law
Vusi Kubheka
Yaseen Abetd
Nomasa Mkabink
Agfa:
Jenette Morris
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Intercontinental The Grand
Sahar, Mumbai, India
January 28th, 2006
TV Broadcast:
Travel Partner:
Event Management:
Hosted By: Anupama Varma & Salil
Judged By: Pankaj Udhas, Deepak Tojori, Suman Rangnathan, Shweta Kwaatra,
Amrita Thapar (Bollywood, India) Dr. Shashi Agrawal,
Anjana Trivedi (U.S.A.), Amrita Hunjan (United Kingdom),
Jasoda Pillay (South Africa)
Performances By: Rakhi Sawant, Sonu Kakad, Jo Jo, Saru Maini, Nandini
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TRINA CHAKRAVARTY OF U.S.A. IS
MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2006
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Trina Chakravarty - U.S.A.
Miss India WorldWide 2006
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Niki Rana - United Kingdom
First Runner Up
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Charlene Asgarali - Netherlands
Second Runner Up
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Tahirah - Australia
Top Five
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Ramona Moodley - South Africa
Top Five
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Tahirah - Australia
Miss Beautiful Hair
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Ramona Moodley - South Africa
Miss Photogenic
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Mona Singh - Germany
Miss Congeniality
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Trina Chakravarty - U.S.A.
Best Talent |
Tejhall Jaintilal - Mozambique
Miss Beautiful Skin
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Naseem Sabrina - Djibouti
Miss Beautiful Smile |
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A view of the stage at the Intercontinental The Grand
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Click To See All Of The Contestants |
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Farook Khan - South Africa
National Director of The Year
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MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2005
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Pictures
Courtesy Of:
Baboo Narrandes
South Africa
Foto Fun:
Aidraan Law
Vusi Kubheka
Yaseen Abetd
Nomasa Mkabink
Agfa:
Jenette Morris
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The Tulip Star
Juhu, Mumbai
January 9th, 2005
Hosted By: Aman Verma & Anupama Verma
Judged By: Dino Morea, Sanjay Suri, Preeti Jagangiani, Aarti Chabria (Bollywood, India)
Dr. Shashi Agarwal, Satya Shah (USA)
Shala King (South Africa)
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AMRITA HUNJAN OF U.K. IS
MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2005
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Amrita Hunjan being crowned by the outgoing queen Purva Merchant
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Reshma Vliet - Netherlands
First Runner Up
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Thebashini Jeevan - Singapore
Second Runner Up
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Vimala Raman - Australia
Top Five
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Madhuvanthi Ramakrishnan - U.A.E.
Top Five
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Amrita Hunjan - U.K.
Miss Beautiful Hair
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Reshma Vliet - Netherlands
Miss Photogenic
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Thebashini Jeevan - Singapore
Miss Congeniality
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Vimala Raman - Australia
Miss Beautiful Face
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Lakshmi Mohan - Germany
Miss Beautiful Eyes
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Suraya Naidoo - South Africa
Miss Charitable
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Amrita Hunjan - U.K.
Best Talent |
Zulfiya Merchant - Portugal
Miss Beautiful Skin
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Madhuvanthi Ramakrishnan - U.A.E.
Miss Beautiful Smile |
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An arial view of the stage at the poolside of the Tulip Star
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Click To See All Of The Contestants |
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MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2003
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Pictures
Courtesy Of:
Mohammed Jaffer
(SNAPS INDIA)
&
M. N. Akhtar
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Bill
Graham Civic Auditorium
San Francisco, California
September 27th, 2003
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PURVA
MERCHANT OF INDIA IS
MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2003
In a glittering function
organized by the New York-based IFC, Purva Merchant of India was
crowned Miss India Worldwide 2003 at the Billy Graham Civic Auditorium
in San Francisco, California on September 27.
Purva,
23, is a dentist from the city of Pune and was a finalist at the
Femina Miss India Pageant held earlier this year. She received
prizes totaling over $15,000, including a round-trip first-class
ticket to India on Air India, $4,000 cash, an all-expense paid
trip to South Africa, the United States, among other prizes. Purva
was crowned by Santripti Vellody of UAE, the outgoing Miss India
Worldwide.
Pooja
Chitgopekar of New Zealand and Meghna Nagarajan of the United
States were named first and second runners-up respectively, spreading
this year's pageant award across three continents. The other two
finalists were Shabnam Mohammed of South Africa and Rashi Chandhok
of Australia. Pooja Chitgopekar also bagged the Best Talent award
for her superb piano performance which included brief pieces by
Beethoven, Bach, and a final rendition of Iqbal's "Saare
Jahan se Acchha." The other subcontest winners were Lavaanya
Ambur of Germany for Miss Beautiful Hair, Pooja Chitgopekar of
New Zealand for Miss Photogenic, Meghna Nagarajan of the USA for
Miss Beautiful Smile, Anjali Punjabi of Hong Kong for Miss Beautiful
Eyes, Purva Merchant for Miss Congeniality, and Rashi Chandhok
of Australia for Miss Beautiful Skin. Participants came from twenty-one
countries across the globe.
Bollywood
stars Anil Kapoor, Gulshan Grover, and Mahima Chaudhry rubbed
shoulders with classical musicians Swapan Chaudhri and Ali Akbar
Khan at the event emceed by Indian Television stars Shekhar Suman
and Archana Puran Singh.
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 film-based dance, classical dances, acting, singing, poetry,
and piano and sitar recital.
The
panel of judges included Seema Andhare, Regional Director of Air-India,
Alka Suman, fashion designer, Neelam Saran, co-Chairperson of
IFC, Puneeta Kumar-Sinha, Investment Banker and Culture Activist,
and Jyoti Chatterjee, President of NetGuru. Tabulation was done
by Dharmangi Bhatia, CPA. SONY TV has aquired the TV broadcast
rights of the pageant and will be showing it worldwide shortly.
"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 Kiranne Devi, contestant from
France.
Dharmatma
Saran, Founder of the Miss India Worldwide, thanked the sponsors
and presented an appreciation plaque to Santripti Vellody, outgoing
queen, for carrying out her duties in a most befitting manner.
Said Dharmatma Saran, "We will continue to promote Indian
values and performing arts among the Indian youth around the world
through pageantry."
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Purva
Merchant being crowned by the outgoing queen Santripti Vellody
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Pooja
Chitgopeker - New Zealand
First Runner Up
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Megna
Nagarajan - USA
Second Runner Up
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Shabnam
Mohammed - South Africa
Top Five
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Rashi
Chandhok - Australia
Top Five
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Laavanya
Ambur - Germany
Miss Beautiful Hair
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Pooja
Chitgopeker - New Zealand
Miss Photogenic
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Megna
Nagarajan - USA
Miss Beautiful Smile
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Pooja
Chitgopeker - New Zealand
Best Talent
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Anjali
Punjabi - Hong Kong
Miss Beautiful Eyes
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Purva
Merchant - Miss India
Miss Congeniality
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Rashi
Candhok - Australia
Miss Beautiful Skin
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Hosts
of the pageant Shekhar Suman & Archana Puran Singh
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Guest
of Honor Anil Kapoor being interviewed by Shekhar Suman
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Bollywood
Actress Mahima Choudhary giving a dance performance
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Mahima
Choudhary being interviewed by Archana & Shekhar
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Hollywood
Actor William Moore (Son of James Bond fame Roger Moore) & Gulshan
Grover being interviewed by Shekhar & Archana
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The
Bollywood Dancers giving a performance
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Top
Three
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Top
Three
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Top
Five
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Seema
Andhare Regional Director of Air India presenting a first class round
trip ticket to India to Purva Merchant
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Dharmatma
Saran, Chief Organizer presenting a plaque & a check for $3000 to
outgoing queen Santripti Vellody
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Rajan
Singh, Executive Vice-President of Sony Television crowning Miss Beautiful
Eyes Anjali Punjabi of Hong Kong
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Chief
Organizer Dharmatma Saran & Neelam Saran with the Top Three
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The
Judges from left to right - Seema Andhare, Punita Kumar - Sinha, Alka
Suman, Neelam Saran, Jyoti Chatterjee with Hosts Shekhar & Archana
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Shekhar
& Alka Suman, Neelam Saran with Top Three
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Shekhar
Suman with the Top Three
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National
Director of India Anjali Puri with her winner
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Archana
Puran Singh congratulating Purva Merchant while Santripti looks on
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Organizer
Satwinder Singh, Sanjay Singhania of Tanmay Jewelers & Dharmatma Saran
with the winner
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Shirlee
Naidoo, Official Hair Stylist presenting a gift to Miss Beautiful Hair
Laavanya Ambur of Germany
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Shekhar
Suman complimenting Santripti Vellody on her singing
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Shekhar
Suman interviewing the chairman of IFC Dharmatma Saran
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Santripti
Vellody with Pooja Chitkopeker
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Dharmangi
Bhatia, The Official CPA with Ankeeta Saran of IFC
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Nadia
Ramnath of Trinidad with Shekhar Suman
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Judges
having a difficult time
From right to left Seema Andhare, Neelam Saran and Alka Suman
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Geeta
Patel & associate of Shri Beauty with Anjali Punjabi of Hong Kong
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Neelam
Saran, Shekhar & Alka Suman, Seema Andhare with Miss India USA Meghna
Nagarajan
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CLICK
HERE TO MEET THE CONTESTANTS FROM
MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2003
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MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2002
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Pictures
Courtesy Of:
Panday's Studio
Durban, South Africa
Tel: 27 - 31 - 306 0388
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International
Convention Center
Durban, South Africa
November 2nd, 2002
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Santripti
Vellody (UAE) being crowned by the outgoing queen Sarika Sukhdeo (South
Africa)
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Santripti
& Sarika smiling for the camera
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Rohini
Banerjee(India) First Runner Up
Miss Congeniality
Miss Beautiful Skin
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Priya
Arora (USA)
Second Runner Up
Miss Beautiful Eyes
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Santripti
being congratulated by Priya and Rohini
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Anjulie
Hira (Zambia)
Miss Photogenic
Miss Techno-Talent
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Suky
Kaur Sanga (UK)
Best Hair
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Santripti
Vellody (UAE)
Best Talent
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Nidhya
Palliakkara (France)
Best Grooming
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Gayathri
Unnikrishnan (Singapore)
Miss Beautiful Smile
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Santripti
flanked by Hon. Naren Singh (Minister of Agriculture) & Dharmatma
Saran
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Santripti
being congratulated by Hon. Logi Naidoo, Mayor - City Of Durban
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Santripti
with Shirley Naidoo & Neelam Saran
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Santripti
with Ary Sarkar & Dharmata Saran
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Sarika
with the top three winners
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Emcees-Krijay
Govender & A. B. Moosa
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Judge
Neelam Saran asking a question
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Chief
judge Vivian Reddy recieving a rose
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Sarika
Sukhdeo recieving her cash prize of $2000 (US) from Dharmatma Saran
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Reception
at the City Hall with the Deputy Mayor Logi Naidoo, Vivian Reddy &
Farook Khan
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The
Judges
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Shelly
Naidoo with South African Beauties Sarika & Sorisha
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Santripti
with Door Darshan Executive Rajiv Kumar & Dharmatma Saran
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Neelam
& Dharmatma Saran recieving a lifetime achievement award "For
Bringing The International Indian Community On One Platform Through Pageantry"
from Shirley Naidoo
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With
Mrs. Ila Gandhi, Grand daughter of Mahatma Gandhi & Membor of Parliament
of South Africa
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Emcee
A. B. Moosa chatting withAarti Chabria, rising Bollywood Star and Miss
India Worldwide 1999
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Santripti
with her National Directors from UAE - Shekhar Rahate & Rajeshree
Aiyer
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Ankeeta
sashing first runner up Rohini Bannerjee
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Judge
Angeli Puri asking a question
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Neelam
& Dharmatma Saran with Miss Teen India South Africa
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MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2001
South Africa's Sarika is Miss India Worldwide
San Jose, California: In a glittering function organized on March 9 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California, Sarika Sukhdeo of South Africa was crowned Miss India Worldwide 2002. The eleventh annual pageant was presented by the New York based India Festival Committee, headed by Dharmatma Saran, Founder and Chief Organizer of the pageant and hosted by Amar Walia of San Jose, California.
The three-hour show that put 14 girls of Indian origin from all over world to test on their beauty, brains, talent and presence of mind, with Sarika bagging the top title. Sarika, 22, is a certified Health and Beauty Therapist and hails from Durban, South Africa. Her hobbies include yoga, modeling and UFO. "The Miss India Worldwide is a leadership development program," said Sarika "and it offers a unique platform to interact with Indians all over the world and also promotes Indian performing art. I am on cloud nine."
The First Runner-Up was Tricia Bhim of Trinidad & Tobago and the Second Runner-Up was Ekta Bhatt representing Tanzania. The other two finalists were Parveen Sian of the United Kingdom and Stacy Issac of U.S.A. Ritu Upadhyay, the outgoing Miss India Worldwide, crowned the new queen.
The function started with an opening dance by Teena Sukhramwala with all the contestants which was received by a thunderous applause by an audience of over nine hundred people. Than the contestants were presented in the Indian segement, evening gown and talent segment, where the contestants performed dances from Indian movies, classical Indian dance, monologue, sketching which was highly appreciated by the audience.
Along with the pageant various sub-contests were held during the week long activities in San Jose. The winners of the sub-contests were Hiral Shah (Kenya) "Beautiful Smile", Stacy Issac (USA) "Beautiful Eyes", Ekta Bhatt (Tanzania) "Miss Photogenic", Sarika Sukhdeo (South Africa) "Beautiful Hair", Satcy Issac (USA) "Best Talent" and Parveen Sian (United Kingdom) "Miss Congeniality".
The panel of judges included Yogesh Mathur (Regional Director, Air-India), Sabeer Bhatia of Hotmail fame, Anjana Trivedi a designer of home and women accessories, film maker Sujit Saraf, entrepreneurs Anu Sharma, Shailesh Mehta, Satya Shaw and Beauty Professor from South Africa Hanisa Ali. Anupama Verma an upcoming star and top model was Special Guest. TV personalities Lakshmi Baweja and Nisha Ahluwalia were hosts of the pageant and offices of Naresh Arora, CPA, provided the accounting services. The pageant was choreographed by Toronto based Divya Kumar while Shirley Naidoo provided hair styling and Shagufta Khan provided cosmetic services.
"I am very much thankful to Amar Walia and the Indian community of San Jose for hosting the pageant" said Dharmatma Saran, "and looking forward to our next Miss India Worldwide Pageant in South Africa later part of this year."
::Glimpses
from Miss India Worldwide Pageant::
(click
to enlarge)
Main
Highlights from the Event ...
All pictures by:
Ranjith Kally & Mohammed Akhtar
The
Winner - Sarika Sukhdeo from South Africa
The
Top Three
Ekta Bhatt (Second Runner Up From Tanzania), The Winner Sarika Sukhdeo
and Tricia Bhin (First Runner Up From Trinidad)
The
Top Five
Stacy Isaac (USA), Sarika Sukhdeo (South Africa), Parveen Sian (UK),
Tricia Bhin (Trinidad) and Ekta Bhatt (Tanzania)
Hiral
Shah From Kenya (Beautiful Smile), Sarika Sukhdeo From South Africa
(Beautiful Hair), Ekta Bhatt From Tanzania (Miss Photogenic) and Stacy
Isaac From USA (Beautiful Eyes)
Parveen
Sian From UK (Miss Congeniality)
Stacy
Isaac From USA (Best Talent)
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Ritu
Upadhyay the outgoing Miss India Worldwide crowning Sarika Sukhdeo
Neelam
Saran crowning Miss Beautiful Eyes Stacy Isaac (USA)
Anjana
Trivedi crowning Miss Beautiful Smile Hiral Shah of Kenya
Hair
Stylist Shirley Naidoo crowning Miss Beautiful Hair Sareka Sukhdeo of
South Africa
Surinder
Walia congratulates the winners with gifts
Contestants
recieving gifts from Shirley Naidoo
Neelam
& Dharmatma Saran with the winner
Amar
Walia & Sabeer Bhatia with the winner
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Yogesh
D. Mathur, Regional Director of Air India being honored by Anupma Verma
for Air India continued support to Miss India Worldwide Pageant
Ashok
& Anjana Trivedi with the winner
Usha
Mathur sashying the queen
National
Directors from UK Vanita Dhand & Sam Samra with the winner
Special
Guest Anupama Verma
Hair
Stylist Shirley Naidoo with the winner
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Dr.
Shashi Agarwal with the winner
Ashok
Trivedi presenting a plaque and prize money to the outgoing queen Ritu
Upadhyay
Farook
Khan host of the next Miss India Worldwide Pageant in South Africa inviting
guests to come to the pageant
Satya
Shaw & Babubhai Patel hosts of Miss India USA 2002 in Los Angeles
with the winner
Choreographers
Divya Kumar & Associate Choreographer Rani Khetarpal with Tricia
Bhim First Runner Up From Trinidad
Tina
Sukhramwala performing the opening dance
Neelam
Saran & Anjana Trivedi with Stacy Isaac (USA)
Aditya
with the Second Runner Up Ekta Bhatt (Tanzania)
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The
Contestants
Stephanie
Singh - Canada
Anurithi Chikkerpur - India
Tejal Patel - Jamaica
Hiral Shah - Kenya
Mohanaapriya Raja - Malaysia
Marilyn Sewbalak - Netherlands
Priya Isaac - Norway
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The
Contestants
Krisstel
Martin - Singapore
Sarika Sukhdeo - South Africa
Ekta Bhatt - Tanzania
Tricia Bhim - Trinidad
Nova Krishnan - U.A.E.
Parveen Sian - UK
Stacy Isaac - USA
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MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2000
RITU UPADHYAY IS MISS INDIA WORLDWIDE 2000
Tampa, Florida: In a glittering function organized on November 25 at the Tampa Convention Center, Ritu Upadhyay of USA was crowned Miss India Worldwide 2001. The tenth annual pageant was organized by the New York based India Festival Committee, headed by Dharmatma Saran, Founder and the Chief Organizer of the Pageant and hosted by Dr. Kiran Patel of the India Cultural center, Tampa, Florida. Ritu, 23, is a graduate of North Western University majoring in Journalism and Political Science and is presently employed with the prestigious Time magazine as a Staff Reporter.
Crowning was done by Bollywood star and Member of Parliament Shatrughan Sinha who complimented the organizers for bringing international Indian community on one platform through pageantry. Dharmatma Saran also presented an appreciation plaque to Shatrughan Sinha for his "outstanding contributions to the Indian motion picture and public life."
The other top five finalists included Jayalaxmi Appadorai of Malaysia (first runner-up), Sheetal Shah of India (second runner-up), Retu Jhelan of Canada and Rovana Shankar of the Netherlands.
The function started with an opening dance by the outgoing queen, Aarti Chabria, who flew in especially from India for the pageant. Contestants from 16 different countries came to vie for this prestigious title held for the first time in Florida. Along with the pageant were various sub-contests held during the week long activities in Tampa and Orlando. Subashnie Devkaran (South Africa) got the title of Miss Photogenic. Simran Kochar of United Kingdom got the Miss Popularity award and the award of Miss Congeniality went to Sapna Malani of Fiji while the Miss Beautiful hair went to Preeti Ghelani of Kenya. Rovana Shankar of the Netherlands won the Best Talent Award who amazed the audience with her performance, which consisted of a mixture of chutney dance, Indian movie dancing, acting and karate. The talent was a message motivating women to fight back. There were other spectacular talents that varied from Indian movie/classical dancing, singing, and poetry recitation to magic show!
The panel of judges included Diana Hayden (Miss World 97-98), Anjana Trivedi, Dr. Shashi Agarwal, Dr. Marvin Pillay, Satya Shaw, Dr. Pallavi Patel and Ruchika Bajpai. Besides Diana Hayden, upcoming Bollywood movie actress Nethra Raghuraman were special guests on this occasion. Geeta Bali, Apra Bhandari and Anil Srivasta were the emcees of the function and Ganga Mukkavilli, CPA, did tabulation.
One highlight of the function was a trip to Disney World and visit to a local hospital by the contestants who distributed toys to sick children there. Mr. H.R. Shah and Mr. Ashok Trivedi were honored on this occasion. Mr. Farook Khan, National Director of South Africa, proposed a vote of thanks.
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