Miss India Georgia 2012 and Miss Teen India Georgia 2012

by: JYOTI M. MONDY
Pics: VINOD DEVLIA

It was a dazzling extravaganza as Shenila Daredia was crowned Miss India Georgia 2012 and Honey Chawla, Miss Teen India Georgia 2012, at a five hour glittering ceremony at the Gwinnett Center for the Performing Arts, Duluth, Atlanta last Saturday, August 4, 2012. The 18 year old contestant Shenila Daredia was overwhelmed with joy and happiness as Ms India Georgia, 2010, Roopal Patel and Ms Adrita Khanna 2008 winner and current Director of Mrs. India International walked on the stage to crown the winner Shenila Daredia. Honey Chawla was crowned Ms. Teen India Georgia 2012.
Shenila Daredia graduated from Woodward Academy this May and is all set to join in Business Administration at the King’s College in New York this fall. The Teen Ms. India USA 2012, 16 year old Honey Chawla aspires to Graduate in Computer Science in the near future.
Rita Ray Chabra the 1st runners-up of Ms India Georgia 2012 aspires to get into a good medical school to become a physiatrist. Rita Ray has a firm belief that with enough planing and determination anything is possible. Meghana Melkote, 2nd runners-up at Ms India GA, 2012 is going to join in Industrial Design Program this fall at Georgia Institute of  Technology. Meghana enjoys dancing, music of all genres, watching old Bollywood movies and traveling around the world. Ms India Teen GA 2012 1st runners up, is 16 year old Chini Sheth who is an eleventh grader at Peachtree Ridge High School. She has a passion for dancing which she has been doing since the last 12 years and aspires to be a pediatrician. Ms. India Teen GA 2012 2nd runners-up Akshaya Vijaykumar too is 16 yrs old and is a rising junior at Northview High School. Akshaya is passionate about singing and dancing.



The Beauty Pageant was a glittering event with 27 pretty and talented beauties sashaying on the stage in colorful Indian and western outfits and vying for the coveted titles of Ms India Georgia and Ms. Teen India Georgia and trying their best to impress the judges with their talent, poise, and catwalk. Organised by iLink Professionals Inc. under the leadership of Salman (Sonny) Molu, the Pageant was a big hit with the Georgians and a sold out show. The spectators had a great time watching both the 27 contestants showcasing their talent on the stage and the typical Bollywood style entertainment with terrific dances on hit numbers like “Munni Badnam Hui” (Dabang movie), Chikni Chameli” (Agneepath movie) and “Ooh La La Ooh La La” (hit number from the movie “Dirty Picture”) by dancers of renowned Atlanta based dance studio “Prem Dance Studio” and dance group “Silent Killers Dance Mania”. Dancers Prem Rehman and Shilpa Ailani Jadwani impressed audiences with their versatile dancing and “bhava” techniques. The emcees of the show were Anand Bhika and Anisa Daftari, also the Pageant Director of the contest.

The evening commenced with an opening dance number by the 27 contestants (attired in black and white dress) on Bollywood number “Aaj Ki Raat” from the movie “Don”, choreographed by ace choreographer, Prem Rehman. All the contestants appeared both in western and Indian outfits in colorful dressy gowns and beautiful Indian dresses comprising the shimmering ‘sarees” and “Lehenga Cholis”. The elimination round had the number of contestants down to five. While the five shortlisted Miss India GA contestants were Meghna Melkote, Rita Ray Chabra, Shreya Singh, Teena Patel and Shenila Daredia, those in the Teen Miss India category were Honey Chawla, Simren Dhani, Mansi Patel, Chini Sheth and Akshaya Vijaykumar.

The “Talent round” had the five contestants of Miss Indian Georgia only displaying their skills choreographed individually in dancing, acting combining both western and Indian outfits. The tall and slim contestant Meghana Melkote impressed audience by playing drums and also performing hip hop dancing on the Bollywood number from the film “Bhul Bhullaya”, “Nire Dolna Sun Mere Pyar Ki Dhun”. Contestant number 16, Shenila Daredia dazzled the judges with her scintillating dance performance which was an amalgamation of various forms of dances from “Garba” to “Bhangra” to ”Indian Classical “ to “Lavni” to “Bollywood depicting patriotic fervor on the song, “Saare Jahaan Se Accha, Hindustan Hamara”. While Teena Patel did a contemporary dance number on the hit number “Desi Boys”, the tall and pretty Rita Ray Chabra wowed the audiences by displaying her martial art techniques. She stated that she has been learning martial arts since age 14.

The interesting highlight of the evening was the question answer round where the spontaneity of the girls came out in the open. The scores of this round were added to the previous rounds. Replying to the judge Movina Natrajan’s queston as to how would you define success, contestant number 2, Honey Chawla contesting for the Teen Ms. India GA replied, “My definition of success is having a lot of confidence in yourself. As long as you have faith in yourself, you are successful”.
When Bulgarian artist, judge Ross Rossin asked Chini Sheth the question, “Tell me the color of the soul and why you picture it that way?”, pat replied Chini “Blue is the color of inspiration and so is the color of my soul”. The next question was by Farah Hafeez, MBA Finance and President of a non-profit organization, “Dil”, to Akshaya Vijaykumar, “What happening in the world today affects you the most? Akshaya replied that the maltreatment of the Muslims in Burma had been bothering her immensely. When judge Suneetha Shetty Patel asked contestant Mansi Patel the question as to if given the option of continuing education or joining Bollywood movies, she said she preferred education as she could have fame and fortune both if she had education. Dr. Raj Pandya’s question to Simren Dhani was, “As a young lady o f the 21st century what is your idea of a successful woman?” Simran was unable to give a befitting reply to the question.

This was followed by a question-answer round by the judges for participants of Ms India Georgia, 2012. Judge Ravneet Bagga asked Teena Patel “What values from both cultures are important to you and what would you inculcate to your kids?” Teena said she would inculcate a very good balance of both religions, adding that she was involved in multimedia and would encourage American culture too.
Replying to a question of multifaceted Dancer and beautician Lata Sharma as to what she thought of inclusion of a South African disabled player competing in 4x400 meter relay in 2012 London Olympics, contestant Shreya Singh said, “It is very important that disabled people are too are good like normal people. It is a great step”.

“Why you think people are mesmerized by beautiful things, beautiful people and beautiful nature?” This was the question put to the beautiful Rita Ray Chabra. The tall and pretty contestant replied, “When you have confidence, it doesn,t matter if your beauty comes from inside or outside. When Ms See Loh, a Fashion Show Co-ordinator asked Meghana Melkote as to how she identified her personality and why, her spontaneous answer was, “I am a person who loves to travel and loves wonders.” The final turn was of contestant number 16, Shenila Daredia whose judge was Industrialist Ajay Singhadia whose question was, “If given and option of Olympics in India or USA, where would you cheer and why? The bubbly and confident Shenila replied, “I would like Olympics to be held in USA since then I would also be able to represent India in America.”
Miss Mayuri Iyengar won the Ms. Congeniality Title, Shaba Momin was Miss Photogenic, Miss Chini Sheth was bestowed with Ms Beautiful Smile, Rishika Laliwala bagged the Miss Prettiest Eyes Title, Miss Popularity Title went to Sonali Prabhu and the Miss Best Talent was bagged by the beautiful Rita Ray Chabra.

The judges of the contest comprised Sucheta Kamath, Farah Hafeez, Movina Natrajan, Ravneet Bagga, Ajay Sinhgadia, Raj Pandya, See Lo, Ross Rossin, Sumeeta Patel Shetty. The judges of the “Talent Preshow” held on August 2 were Malaika Witter-Hewitt, Priti Lakha, Michelle Simon, Shemoni Parekh and Deepak Bakshi.
Speaking thereafter, Salman (Sonny) Molu, the Director of the Beauty pageant thanked his wife, Asma Molu and all other members who left no stone unturned to make this event a grand success. He also invited his friend Prem Rehman, Project Manager, Anisha Daftary, brother Nasir Molu, Fashion Designer Sushma Patel, new trainer Sabrina Nooruddin Ms. India GA 2009 and Roopal Patel Ms India GA 2010 on the stage. Salman whole heartedly thanked the judges, volunteers Lakshmi, Gauri, Perveen Gilani, Vinod Delvia Mustafa Ajmeri and the sponsors.
The Grand sponsor of this memorable event was Mrs. India International. The other sponsors were I Link Professionals, Bhindi Jewellers, Prem Studio for the Performing Arts, Singer Swati Mishra, B4U CD’s and DVD’s, ASchool Bell Rings, So So Desi and Pathik music group, Photogrpahy by Vinod, Nepal House, Mary Kay, Indian American Cultural Association (IACA), Purple Rain Restaurant and Lounge, Print Signs, Sushma Patel of Fifth Seasons, SP Tech , Private Bank of Buckhead, Tours Limited, US1 Novelities and World Debt Acquisitions.
Salman has gained recognition for his passion working with several big stars in Bollywood Industry. He has also directed several pageants and shows. Besides, he has also been in limelight on account of his first Kathak performance in the Nritya Natya Kala Bharti Annual Dance Recital.

The theme of this years contest was “charity” which aimed at teaching the girls the importance of “Inward Beauty” and the most beautiful thing in the world is to help charities achieve their goals. This Georgia pageant is the premier cultural pageant of the Southeast and officially affiliated with Miss India USA and Worldwide Pageants. Girls from all over the state eagerly participate in this female empowerment program with activities such as personal styling workshops, public speaking seminars, interview training, makeup application lessons & personal training, healthy lifestyle coaching with a personal dietician.
This year the pageant has been revamped and revived, giving the lucky winner the opportunity of a lifetime. The winners of the Miss India and Miss Teen India Georgia pageants will compete nationwide at the Miss India USA contest, receive a cash prize of over $1500 to winner & $800 to runner up plus gifts from sponsors, an expert health and beauty package, and the ability to be the spokesperson for the Georgia Indian Community, attending festivals & events and much more. This rare event gives two young women the opportunity to reach out and become a role model for the community at large.