BY VEENA RAO
Sabrina Nooruddin was crowned Ms India Georgia 2009, while Eshani Brambhatt won the Ms Teen India Georgia 2009 title at a glittering ceremony held at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center in Duluth recently. The pageant, now in its twentieth year, was organized by the India America Cultural Association (IACA).
The winners will represent Georgia in the Ms India USA and the Ms Teen India USA pageants later this year.
Aparna Mehra and Rita Tiwari were the first and second runners-up in the Ms India GA 2009 category. In the teen category, the first and second runners-up were Poorna Rajeevan and Jennifer Ahsan. In the superlative categories, five titles were awarded. Miss Beautiful Smile and Miss Photogenic were both given to Eshani Brahmbhatt, and Best Talent was awarded to Poorna Rajeevan. Miss Beautiful Eyes was presented to Jennifer Ahsan. The final title, Miss Congeniality, was the only title not determined by a panel of judges but rather by the contestants themselves. The girls voted Priyanka Hossain for Miss Congeniality.
Close to 500 people attended the annual pageant, which is as much a showcase of talent, as it is of beauty, poise and confidence. The young women were judged for poise, grace, talent, confidence, style and talent. There was an evening gown segment, a talent segment, and an Indian outfit round.
Five participants from each pageant were selected to move on to the finals. These ten top scorers then randomly picked their judge’s name from a bowl for their Q&A round.
Stand-up comedian Ash Chandler regaled the audience with some rib tickling comedy and English songs. Dance performances were presented by Megha Purohit of Dream Konnection and Shivani Bhatnagar of Kriti Dance Academy.
IACA chairman Paddy Sharma and President Dr.Ananth Kamath did the honor of lighting the Festival Of India flame on the stage.
This year’s winners took over the crown from last year’s Ms India GA winner Shivani Gandhi and Ms Teen India GA winner Avanti Patel.
|