BY VEENA RAO

Poise, grace and an abundance of and talent marked the Ms India Georgia and the Ms Teen India Georgia pageants at the Gwinnett Civic Center on Saturday, July 10. The glitzy evening ended with Sonia Seernani being crowned Ms India Georgia 2004 and Rima Patel the new Ms Teen India Georgia 2004. The pageants are organized annually by the India American Cultural Association (IACA).

"This is definitely spectacular!" said a dazed Sonia immediately after being crowned. "I'm surprised. I didn't expect to win," added an equally stunned Rima.

The winners were crowned by the 2003 pageant winners Meghna Nagarajan (Ms India GA 2003) and Vandana Aggarwal (Ms Teen India GA 2003).

Sumehra Premji was first runner-up and Nazish Zahrah the second-runner up in the Ms India Georgia pageant. Nisha Chandran and Nikhat Nazarali were first and second in the Ms Teen India Georgia segment. Sonia Seernani also won the Best Talent title while Rima Patel added the Ms Personality title to her wins. Simran Judge was judged Ms Photogenic, while Nazish Zahrah won the Beautiful Smile contest.

Sonia Seernani beat 15 other contestants to take the top spot. Her graceful kathak moves in the talent segment, and her quick-witted reply in the Q&A section won her a place in the judges' hearts and score sheets. Her question was- "What can you as a beauty queen do to get youngsters to vote?"

Sonia's smile did not wane as the microphone was thrust in her hand. She said she would talk to youngsters about the campaigning process, about September 11 and about its effects on the economy. "Being 18 myself, I think it is important that youngsters are educated on who are in the running for president," she said.

The competition was even bigger for Rima Patel who beat 18 other contenders to take the Ms Teen India Georgia crown. In a spontaneous response to her question, she said her favorite characteristic in her best friend was honesty and "being able to keep secrets."

The evening began with a well-choreographed dance by all participants. This was followed by an evening gown segment. Each contestant was escorted down an elevated ramp by a dapper male, against the backdrop of a shimmering moonlit sky. The girls then sashayed down the stage in a display of elegance, poise and grace.

The talent round for the Ms India Georgia participants was the most engaging segment of the evening, with a medley of songs, dances, and skits. The 
abundance of talent in the participants was sheer joy to watch. There was even a belly dancer, a tap dancer and a 'Miss Poo' - an enactment of Kareena Kapoor from the movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham to entertain the packed audiences.

An Indian formal wear segment followed, after which the coordinators bustled about collecting the score sheets from the 13 judges. Five finalists were chosen from each contest. The 10 finalists then went through the Q & A round. Each finalist randomly picked a judge's name from a basket. She then had to answer the judge's question.

If the participants added glitz to the evening, the three emcees lent their effervescence and charm. Suchita Vadlamani of Fox 5's Good Day Atlanta, model/actor Shezi Sardar, and actress Parijat Chandra enlivened the proceedings with their grace, wit and charm.

The evening also included a song and dance sequence by Prof. Laxmi Rao and the Kavya Kamal troupe, which had music by Sandeep Savla. The Silent Killers dance troupe later set the stage on fire with their moves. The dance was led by Prem Rehman who also takes credit for choreographing the opening dance 
number for the show.

The hard work put in by everybody involved showed. The coordination and practice sessions began as early as April. Kiran Agnihotri, chief coordinator of the contests said the pageant provides a forum to the participants to practice stage presence, develop alertness and quickness of thought and wit, polish their general knowledge, improve their self-confidence and develop a sense of hearty competition.

The other members of the coordinating committee were Lakshmi Rao who is credited  with arranging innumerable gifts for the winners, Parijat Chandra who was also one of the emcees, Indu Sharma who was the stage manager and made sure that the program flow was flawless and Shally Venkatesh who was in charge of stage decoration and stage effects to create the entire look of the pageant. 

IACA president Dr Paddy Sharma earlier welcomed the guests. She said irrespective of who won, all participants were winners. She also felicitated the contest coordinators for a job well done.

Last year's winners of the IACA pageant went on to win other bigger contests. Ms India Georgia Meghna Nagarajan won the Ms India USA 2003 crown and was first runner up in the Ms India Worldwide contest. The 2003 Ms Teen India Georgia runner up Movina Nagarajan recently won the Ms Teen India USA 2004 crown.

What lies in the year ahead for the 2004 queens? A busy year for sure!!”