Miss Indianz, the annual beauty pageant that generates widespread interest not only among the members of the Indian community but also among other ethnic
groups, will mark its tenth anniversary this year.
This year’s pageant, packed with the usual excitement and entertainment and a few other additional features, will be held on Saturday, April 21 at 730 pm at Auckland University’s Maidment Theatre (Princess Street) in the City.
We understand that 20 contestants from major cities of New Zealand will participate in the event, giving it a national favour. Apart from choosing the Title Winner and two Runners-Up, a panel of judges will choose winners in a number of individual categories, some of which will also involve audience vote.
Dharmesh Parikh, the man who started it all ten years ago, is truly gratified by the progress achieved. He has marked a niche for his Reshab D Parikh Productions, which produces and presents the annual pageant. Over the years, the organisation has grown to become an event management company, conducting regional and national programmes.
Honouring traditions
The past ten years have brought challenges, growth opportunities, trials, tribulations, success and achievements for Mr Parikh. Unperturbed by distractors and adversaries, he has carried on with resilience and relentless spirit of adventure and patience.
“The most amazing aspect of Miss Indianz is the fact that our contestants are more conscious of promoting the time-honoured traditions of India than many others of the past generation. Despite all the glamour and razzle-dazzle, they respect and adhere to our customs, habits and practices. Winners or Runners-up participate in the Miss Indianz Worldwide competition at which they share their experience with others. They are truly proud of their Indian roots,” he said.
According to him, contestants at Miss Indianz 2012 would be no exception.
“In fact, they would mark a significant difference compared to their predecessors. Most of them do not subscribe to social websites such as Facebook and are keen to promote the ‘Indianness’ in them. This in itself is a remarkable quality, since most of them were either born in New Zealand or have been educated here,” Mr Parikh said.
Debates and Controversies
Like most competitions that involve a cross-section of the society, Miss Indianz has not been immune to debates and controversies. While the primarily requirement is that all contestants should be ‘People of Indian Origin,’ a number of aspirants of Indian Sub-Continent extraction have staked their claim, creating enigmatic circumstances.
But Mr Parikh consulted experts in the field and announced that ‘any person who would be eligible for obtaining a ‘Person of Indian Origin’ card or the ‘Overseas Citizenship of India’ status would be eligible to contest.
“This was the best way to solve the problem since PIO and OCI cards are issued by the Indian government based on a set of parametres and rules governing immigration,” he said.
New Contest
Mr Parikh is justifiably elated by an offer that he recently received from Sunil Rane of ‘Athyarya Group of Companies’ based in Mumbai to become the New Zealand franchisee for his recently launched ‘India Princess International.’
“This is a great honour for Reshab D Productions and a veritable opportunity for our beauty contestants, since they would henceforth have another international avenue to showcase their talents. This would be in addition to the Miss India Worldwide Competition,” he said.
Editor’s Note: We feature here the photographs of five Miss India 2012 contestants, sans their profiles, which did not reach us until press time.
What: Miss Indianz 2012
Organiser: Reshab D Parikh Productions
When: Saturday April 21 at 730 pm
Where: Maidment Theatre, Auckland University
Princess Street, Auckland City
Tickets: Sunil Kumar on (09) 6296676
Maidment Theatre Box Office
Website: www.missindianz.co.nz
