Karina Kohli is Miss India USA 2015; Aanchal Shah crowned Miss Teen India USA

In a glittering function organized at the Royal Albert’s Palace, Fords, New Jersey, Karina Kohli of New York was crowned Miss India USA 2015. Aanchal Shah from Florida was crowned Miss Teen India USA and Neha Multani Verma of New York was also crowned the second Mrs India USA. 

The 34th annual pageant was organized by the New York-based IFC, headed by Dharmatma Saran, founder and the chief organizer of the pageant. A record number of 55 contestants took part in the pageant this year. 

Karina Kohli, 18, is a student of acting in New York University.  She was crowned by outgoing queen Pranathy Gangaraju.  She will represent the USA in the  25th Annual Miss India Worldwide Pageant to be held in New York in September. 

Nandini Iyer, 27, of New Jersey and Visakha Sundar, 21, of Virginia, were declared first and second runners up among 20 contestants from various parts of the country, in the gala event attended by over five hundred people. The other two five finalists were Karishma Malhotra from New York and Nicky Kandola from Virginia. 

Aanchal, 16, aspires to become an oncologist. She was crowned Miss Teen India USA among seventeen contestants. The first runner up was Akila Narayanan, 17, from Massachusetts and the second runner up was Rhea Manjrekar 16, from New York. The other two finalists were Manjari Parikh from New York and Shirin Bakre from Massachusetts.  The sub-contest winners were – Manjari Parikh – Miss Talented, Aanchal Shah – Miss Congeniality, Akila Narayanan – Miss Social Media and Simran Kota - Miss Photogenic. 

Neha Multani Verma, 29, is an executive with a large real estate corporation.  The first runner up is Sheetal Kelkar, 36, from New Hampshire and the second runner up is Aradhana Thawani Padilla, 24, from Texas.  Radhika Treon from Massachusetts and Protyusha DasNeogi from Washington State were among the top five contestants. The sub-contest winners were Chhavi Gupta – Mrs. Congeniality, Aradhana Thawani - Mrs. Photogenic and Pavana Gadde - Mrs. Social Media. 

The pageant started with a stunning performance by all the contestants led by the outgoing queens Miss India USA – Pranathy Gangaraju, Miss Teen India USA – Riya Kaur and Mrs. India USA Namita Dodwadkar choreographed by Shilpa Jhurani.  All contestants presented their best in the Indian and the evening gown segment after which the top ten were selected. The top ten contestants from Miss section then amazed the audience with their talent which included Bollywood dances, Indian classical dances, contemporary dancing and singing. In the Miss section, Nandini Iyer was awarded Miss Talented. 

Winners of the other various sub-contests were: Miss Congeniality – Visakha Sundar, Miss Social Media – Nandini Iyer, Miss Photogenic – Akshaya Vijaykumar, Miss Bollywood Divya – Spoorthy Bharadwaj, Miss Catwalk – Ishpreet Gill, Miss Beautiful Hair – Aishwarya Balaji, Miss Beautiful Smile – Karishma Malhotra, Miss Popularity – Nandini Iyer, Miss Beautifu Eyes – Anita Ganesan, Miss Beautiful Skin – Piyali Nath. 

Dharmatma Saran  honored HR Shah, Albert Jasani, Nishi Bahl and Shilpa Jhurani for their support in organizing the event.  â€œI am very thankful to the Indian community for its support through the years, and special thanks goes to HR Shah and Albert Jasani,” Saran said.    

Trina Chakravarty, Roshi George, and Asma Molu were emcees and Nishi Bahl was the choreographer assisted by Shilpa Jhurani. 

The panel of judges included Raissa Nagapin – national director of Miss India Guadelope, Chandra Mouli – film producer, Neetu Thomas – fashion designer, Subbu Sundaravelu â€“ director of SAP nanaged services at ProMorphics LLC and Ines Hernandez- fashion designer and political activist.  Dharmangi Bhatia, CPA, was the official accountant. 

Pictures Courtesy of Suresh Jilla and John Martin.

Miss India USA 2015 Karina Kohli flanked by Mrs. India USA Neha Multani Verma (L) and Miss Teen India USA Aanchal Shah (R)

The three winners with chief organizers Neelam and Dharmatma Saran

H.R. Shah receiving a plaque of appreciation by outgoing Mrs. India USA, Namita Dowadkar

Miss Talented - Nandini Iyer