Beauty contestants display sporting spirit

Forget all those scenes of tears rolling down the cheeks, vapourising the heavy makeup; ignore the melodrama of disappointment and disillusionment and a hundred other things

Miss Indianz 2010 held at the Auckland Town Hall on August 7 demonstrated the fact that there was still the sporting spirit in beauty competitions.

Eighteen contestants from major centres including Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch walked down the ramp with hope and ambition, some dancing and some singing, aware that the final honours would be reserved for just one of them.

There was friendship and appreciation, not jealousy and rancour as the judges decided that Latisha Patel should wear the crown and that Shiona Ram and Arishma Ashika Lata should respectively be the First and Second Runners-Up.

The new Beauty Queen would now have many opportunities to pursue her passion of meeting new people and making them friends, thereby fulfilling the principal desire behind her participation in the contest.

“I have entered this contest to represent the Indian culture and youth, and enjoy the wonderful experience,” she said.

Arishma had told us earlier that she would not be distressed if she were out of the race.

“Miss Indianz will help me gain confidence and experience. Winning or losing is not in my hands,” she had said (Indian Newslink, August 1, 2010).

But she was not disappointed. Her perseverance made her the Second Runner-Up.

Hemalee Patel, who had earlier won the ‘Miss Friendship’ title perhaps summed up the mood of the other participants when she described Miss Indianz 2010 as “An amazing experience with unforgettable memories. Everyone enjoyed and the only reason we cried was that it was all over!”

Akash Sandhu, another contestant, did not believe that she was returning home empty-handed. “I would miss all my friends and fellow contestants. It was great to be together,” she said.

Excitement had apparently overrun the modesty in Shiona, when she declared, “I look up to the sky, and now the world is mine.”

Despite such varying attitudes and comments, the participants in Miss Indianz 2010 obviously pleased Dharmesh Parekh, Director of Reshabh D Parikh Productions (formerly Rhythm House Limited), the man behind the show.

“The talent round, which brought out the innate capabilities of some contestants in singing and dancing, was a welcome departure from the run-of-the-mill events of the type. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed the programme,” he said.

The opening scene saw a parade of the 18 contestants in their sartorial resplendence, displaying the grace of the saree in varied designs, and colours.

But the subsequent sequences only partially did justice to the outfit taste of the participants; however, the hairstyle and makeup of most of the young women were appropriate, proving the professional calibre of those behind them.

Master of ceremony Hemant Parikh was in his spirits but his colleague Varsha Reddy failed to impress me; she was faltering and appeared unprepared to carry the show.

Omnipresent Auckland Mayor John Banks said he loved the Indian community and that he looked forward to returning as the ‘Enlarged Mayor’ of the Auckland Region following the local body elections in November.

Dharmesh should make changes in his forthcoming editions of Miss Indianz to stay on top of the game.

Photo :

1. Miss Indianz Latisha Patel with Runners-Up Shiona Ram and Arishma Lata

2. Miss Indianz 2009 Jumana Shakeer with Hemant Parikh

3. Isha Shevde and Shreya Paranjapae