Take You for a Walk Down the Runway at Jaz Creationz

By Jawahar Malhotra

HOUSTON: A few years back, during the Vaisakhi program at the Cullen Auditorium that she had coordinated for the Punjabi Society of Houston, Jasmeeta Singh created quite a stir by producing one of the best choreographed fashion shows the desi community had ever seen. It was set to a blend of music and dance – each model not only walked the stage but also performed dance steps – and was ahead of the crowd in theatrics and entertainment. Jasmeeta ended the show with a group performance, with herself as the lead dancer.

That was five years ago, and Jasmeeta had been organizing the annual Vaisakhi program and other functions for her Sikh community for a long time. In addition, she had volunteered for events as a director of the India Culture Center and she has been was the sole Sikh participant in the International Hindi Association’s Houston Chapter. And as a past director of the Interfaith Ministries of Houston, along with her husband, businessman Bobby Singh, she helped produce its annual Tapestry Ball and interfaith dialogues on Sikhism.

Nearly two years ago, the beautiful dynamo ventured into the world of haute couture fashion, with a glittering inaugural fashion and dance event and since then has had many more fashion shows, joining hands with ethnic groups across the Bayou City. She now conducts classes every Saturday at her spacious studio at 9703 Richmond at S. Gessner for those who are interested in pursuing a career in modeling. Her company, Jaz Creationz, is a unique modeling agency and dancing school that wants to create diversity in the modeling world by merging dance of different cultures together to form a common ground to build bridges between communities as well as learning poise and public speaking skills.

And she still has time for the other passion in her life: to work within the community and help maintain its cultural heritage. A trained Kathak classical dancer who also choreographs the free flowing style of Bollywood dancing, Jasmeeta is known among the desi community for her focus on working with kids and perfectionism when it comes to undertaking a project, and has been active in other non-profit groups for many years.

But what many may not realize is that Jasmeeta is also very fluent in Hindi and has been a part of the IHA’s activities for the past three years, often contributing to their poetry events and karaoke nights. She managed to merge the two in the sneh milan night (held each quarter) at her studio by hosting the get-together this past Friday, April 21 and most of the membership showed up for the mixer, karaoke night and dinner. And since most of the same people are also associated with the ICC, Jasmeeta was able to put together an evening which included all of her passions!