Miss India USA Texas 2018, An Evening of Glamour & Gratitude!

HOUSTON: On Sunday, November 11, at the Ayva Center in Houston; Texas crowned new Indo-American Ambassadors as Miss/Teen/Mrs. India USA Texas. The newly crowned queens received a yearlong agreement with a nationally recognized leading talent management agency, internship opportunities and a chance to represent the Cowboy Capital of the World, Texas at Miss India USA.

The evening was studded with glamour and the set up was absolutely marvelous. Thirty applicants were vetted through an application and personal interview process and the top five finalists from each category competed to win the titles and the crowns.

Sage Productions has been successfully hosting this event for the past four years and as DJ Sage (Sajawal Dass) stated in his speech, “This year our team wanted to invite everyone who has supported us over the years and thank them for their continuous support to all of our efforts in building a stronger and more empowered community.” To this, Abiya Olivia Malhotra added “We are grateful for all the support and are humbled by how much the community believes in our platform. We are forever indebted to our parents, siblings and friends for becoming our voices of reason and encouraging us to become better each day.” Raman Jain and Adil Dass agreed and thanked all the supporters as well. The team of Sage Productions thanked their long term sponsors and supporters and kept the event intimate and by invitation only. Some honorable mentions for their long term supporters were: Moid Khan, Tariq Khan, Irfaan Moosa, Amir Ali Dodhiya, Najam Sheikh, Zeeshan Nimri, Gaurav Hariyani, Mr. and Mrs. Saeed Sheikh, Mr. and Mrs. Tahir Javed, Rajendar Singh, Mr. and Mrs. Umang Mehta, Mr. and Mrs. Rajesh Desai, Mr. and Mrs. Vipin Kumar, Vanshika Vipin, Subaika Faraz, Navroz Prasala, Gitesh Desai, Achlesh Amar, Dharm Bali, Pattrick Bocco, Lipika Sharma, Curve Hospitality, Hooked on Henna, Studio S, Threadz USA, Parinaz A Boutique, Rehan Siddiqi, Noor of Noor Ladds, Texans Energy, Discount Power, Sunil & Sandhya Thakkar, Mr. and Mrs. Inder Singh Randhawa, Riya Madhyani, Priyanka Sharma, Madhulika, Guddi Shah, Wajeeha Rashid, Mr. and Mrs. Melvin D’Costa, Marium Lakhany, Manal Lakhay, Falak Lakhany and everyone from the community who has been supportive of our efforts from the time that we conceptualized the event.

The program started with Dr. Shama Rasheed being introduced as the Emcee for the show. She is a leading psychiatrist and has been pivotal in assisting Sage Productions in transforming the format of the pageant this year. After a rigorous training process, the top five finalists met with the panel of judges for a 20 minute personal interview. Each finalist had to answer a series of questions and each finalist was graded on the accuracy, validity and confidence of her responses. Thereafter, the contestants competed in Ethnic Wear, Talent and Evening Gown Wear rounds.

The judges were mesmerized by how every lady on that stage walked with poise and charisma. The honorary panel of judges included: Aneil Singh Kainth (DJ Intense) CEO of Intense Music from Canada, Juuhi Ahuja CEO of Wisemen Corporation, Katie Jones Executive Director of American Lung Association in Texas, Sammi Khaleeq PR Leader in Houston for Celebrities, Sangeeta Dua CEO of TV Houston and Apsara Salons, Eva Elias CEO of Revalushion Talent Management Agency and Sandeep Sulhan (DJ Dholi Deep) Artist and RJ with Radio Dabang.

The hors d’oeuvres were sponsored by Capt. Rajkumar and Mrs. Meenakshi Malhotra of Captain Raj Maritime Consultants and the catering restaurant was Mezban from Houston. Sohail and Ashar made sure that the food was delivered in a timely manner and that every guest had an opportunity to taste the delicious dishes.

Special performances by Shayan (aspiring singer and composer), Abiya Olivia and Juliet George (Teen India USA Texas) kept the audience engaged and entertained. The finalists looked ravishing in their overall looks and Wajeeha Rashid with her team transformed the finalists into divas.

The top five finalists for Miss India USA Texas 2018 were:

1. Jaime Mathew

2. Natasha Gambhir

3. Caitlyn Reshma

4. Sarah Sutar

5. Mamta Dua

 

The top five finalists for Mrs India USA Texas 2018 were:

1. Shruthi Bekal

2. Shilpa Thakar

3. Nisha Sundaragopal

4. Nikita Kadakia

5. Mona (Chandeep) Sharma

This year Sage Productions also recognized some youth leaders who have shown an avid interest in community engagement and have the drive and passion to advocate for human rights through direct intervention and policy advocacy:

1. Hinna Akhter Kudrat was crowned Global Miss Diamond 2018

2. Deepika Verma Agarwal was crowned Global Mrs. Diamond 2018

3. Uzair Hasan was crowned Global Mr. Diamond 2018

4. Juliet George was crowned Teen India Texas 2018

 

Winners for Miss India USA Texas 2018 were:

1. Natasha Gambhir was crowned Miss India USA Texas 2018

2. Sarah Sutar was crowned first runner up

3. Caitlyn Reshma was crowned second runner up

 

Winners for Mrs India USA Texas 2018 were:

1. Shilpa Thakar was crowned Mrs India USA Texas 2018

2. Nikita Kadakia was crowned first runner up

3. Shruthi Bekal was crowned second runner up

Media Partners: Radio Dabang, Indo-American News, NTV, Aag TV, TV Houston, HUM FM, Pakistan Times. Karthik Datta was the official photographer for the show.