Flight Attendant takes off with Miss Indianz title

Venkat Raman

An international flight attendant soared to great heights of fame and applause as she was crowned Miss Indianz 2015 at a well-attended event held in Auckland on Saturday night.

With three equally important and popular events being held at Aotea Centre at the same time on September 12, finding a place to park the car in the area was more difficult that finding a seat of your choice on an Air New Zealand flight.

Some of us were lucky to get a last minute reprieve but all those hassles proved to be worthwhile as Miss Indianz began with a thunderous applause as a group of dancers led by Monisha Kumar (who was also a judge at the Contest) dazzled on the stage with their colourful costumes and dance numbers.

Introduction Round

This was followed by a parade of 26 contestants, some of them representing as many as three different cultures (but taking their roots back to India) adding to the extravaganza that has become the heart of the Miss Indianz show organised by Reshab D Productions and Dharmesh Parikh with inimitable passion and justifiable pride.

His brother Hemant was as usual the charming host, this year in partnership with Melanie Ramsden. Both of them adlibbed merrily, speaking on 26 different subjects, one of which was on the art of taking selfies.

The Friday Company

The dance number presented by ‘The Friday Company’ was one of the finest that we have seen in years. Comprising a group of talented dancers, the item carried vivacity and class, energising the environment. The audience was justified in calling for an encore.

Miss Indianz Title winner Ashika said that she reflects a positive, loving, ambitious personality.

“I believe that nobody should ever give up on full-filling their dreams. Tonight I plan to soar to Cloud Nine,” she said. That turned about to be an accurate prediction.

Navitha Paneer (Selvam) who took the Miss Indianz 2015 International title is also a dreamer, and “pushed to the limits to realise her dream.’

Youth Power

One of the most significant aspects of the participation of the young women was their positive mental attitude and belief that they can face an international audience and compete against each other, winning in the process new friends, goodwill and understanding.

Most Miss Indianz have graduated to compete and win global contests or become internationally renowned singers, dancers or gained an entry to the Hindi film industry hoping to making it big someday. Their aspirations never go in vain.

Points for future

This is the only event of its type held with great success every year and as a newspaper that has promoted the event since it began in 2002, we have exercised the liberty of offering our comments in this review, which we hope will be read in good spirit and positive light.

The talent round had a few interesting display of skills but a majority of the young girls were either poorly rehearsed or chose the wrong item for presentation. Many of them certainly need to learn the art of catwalk and equally important how to wear the saree and carry it gracefully.

Those comments may appear uncharitable but not unwarranted because Miss Indianz has become a teenager and hence must radiate a higher level of professionalism. Besides, Dharmesh Parikh is known to introspect and raise the quality of the programme every year.

Photo:

1. Miss Indianz 2015 Ashika Raj with First Runner-Up Raveena Badwal (left) and Second Runner-Up Pooja Bhagath (Picture by Narendra Bedekar)
2. Miss Potential Model Priyena Prasad (Picture by : Andrew Bignall)
3. Masters of Ceremonies Hemant Parikh and Melanie Ramsden (Picture by Andrew Bignall)
4. Monisha Kumar with her students (Picture by Andrew Bignall)
5. Miss Photogenic Manpreet Kaur (Picture by Narendra Bedekar)