SUCCESSFUL MAAZA MISS INDIA NEW YORK & MISS TEEN INDIA NEW YORK 2011

IFC just presented its 29th Maaza Miss India New York and the 4th Miss Teen India New York pageants at the Community Center Auditorium in Flushing, Queens, on Sunday October 30. The event attracted some very beautiful, talented and intelligent young ladies from the South Asian community in the New York region.

This year's Miss Teen New York seemed to enlist some very young contestants, the youngest being 13-years-old of the eight contestants who took the catwalk. The contestants for the Maaza Miss India New York are somewhat older.

The young ladies displayed very gorgeous Indian outfits, including the elegant saris, lehangas and cholis; show-stopping gowns and then, showcased their special talents to impress the judges. Many of the contestants chose to perform dances for the talent pieces - to the beats of traditional, folklore and Bollywood songs. There is also a Q & A session where the contestants are requested to choose an envelop that contained a question for them.

The evening was sprinkled with spell-bounding performances from very young dancers of the famous Arya Dance Academy who just wowed the crowd with their impressive group dances.

The culmination of the contests was the crowning of the "queens" of both the Maaza Miss India New York and Miss Teen India New York for 2011. The winners of both pageants were very deserving of the crowns: Miss Chandan for the Maaza Miss India New York and Miss Sumeet for the Miss Teen New York.

There are many ways these young ladies benefit from such an event as this pageant; as they mentioned during their introductory speeches. They entered the contest to help them build their self-confidence, meet other young people, make new friends, represent their rich Indian culture and have a good time.

Mr. Dharmatma Saran and his team always do a great job of organizing a wonderful pageant for the young ladies, which provide a great platform for them to be young ambassadors of their Indian heritage.

Good luck to the winners!

Below are some cell phone photos of the event.

Young dancers of Arya Dance Academy ...


The winners of both pageants with other contestants...


Young performers of the Arya Dance Academy

Contestants of the Maaza Miss India NY ...

This young trio delighted the audience with their Lord Krishna performance..

The young ladies resplendent in their Indian outfits...

Winners being crowned by last year's winners ...

GRAND DIWALI UTSAV CELEBRATION ORGANIZED BY THE CHINMAYA MISSION NEW YORK

The Chinmaya Mission New York celebrated Diwali Utsav 2011 in grand style at the fabulous Akbar Restaurant in Garden City, Long Island, on Sunday, October 16. The turnout to the event was beyond expectation, totaling well over 350 people who packed the spacious hall.

Diwali Utsav is not only an event that showcased the many talented youngsters from the mission’s different branches in New York but it is also a time when the Chinmaya Mission family come together and celebrate Diwali with one another in a festively joyous manner. Most importantly, parents are given a chance to see their children performed on stage some of the cultural activities they have learned in the Balavihar classes.

The cultural presentation consisted of mainly kirtans/bhajans, drama and skits all produced mainly by the Chinmaya Mission’s Long Island and Manhattan Balavihar groups, from age ranging from 3 to 13-years. The Manhattan Yuva Kendra group (Youth group) also participated in the program.

The event was opened with the welcoming words delivered by Dr. Jatin Kapadia, followed by the ceremonious lighting of the Diya by Acharya Krishnamoorthy and soon after, the children of the Long Island Balavihar group chanted appropriate sloks and read the meanings.

The Master of Ceremonies was Mr. Jagdish Rao, who called on AcharyaJi to give an overview of the progress of the Chinmaya Mission Worldwide. AcharyaJi, who is versed in using technology to aide his presentations via the projector, showed the audience some very powerful images of the great works of different branches of Chinmaya Mission globally.

Balavihar children lighting diyas, while smiling Pujya Gurudev looks on


Shri George Romney of the Manhattan branch captured the true essence of Diwali, also known as the “Festival of Lights,” through the words of a beautiful poem he penned and titled the “Significance of Diwali”.

The Balavihar teachers from Long Island and Manhattan must be complimented for doing such a great job in nurturing, inspiring, motivating and transforming these young minds into becoming young “Vedantins,” who dominated the program.

Balavihar children singing kirtans

One of the highlights of the evening was the performance of the Long Island Balavihar group who portrayed the enchanting Vishwaroop form of Lord Krishna, which He showed to the warrior prince Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The Manhattan Balavihar group also did some impressive skit and song, “Super Superman Hanuman” and “My God is so Great” respectively.

Long Island Balavihar children performing Vishwaroop skit


Manhattan Youth group

Manhattan Balavihar little ones performing the Aarti


The Vedanta Class taught of Dr. Jatin Kapadia in Richmond Hill, Queens, to Hindus from Guyana and Trinidad, participated in the program for the first time, by singing the first 10 stanzas from Bhaja Govindam.

Devotees of the Sanaatan Dharma Mandir of New York singing from Bhaja Govindam


A raffle was also played and gifts included books, a Nikon camera, a hamper, and a free one-year subscription to the Balavihar Children’s Magazine, among other gifts.

Diwali Utsav 2011 was a huge success; it was the culmination of hard work, dedication and perseverance, good entertainment, delicious food and good company.

May Goddess Lakshmi shower Her choicest blessing upon all. May She inspire us to share our fortunes with our less fortunate sisters and brothers.

Shubh Diwali to all!