Bringing traditional fashion on the ramp this Diwali
In a first for Auckland Diwali Festival, Indian Weekender is glad to announce its latest spectacle at the extravaganza of fun, food, culture and entertainment with Ms Diwali and Mr Diwali—a cultural fashion contest.
The contest will be held over the two days of the Auckland Diwali Festival at Aotea Square and will have two round. The first round—Cultural extravaganza will showcase the traditional attires from different parts of India and the second round—Talent Show will give the participants a chance to showcase their talent ranging from dancing, singing, acting and more.
With an aim to bring traditional fashion and talent on the forefront of the festival, we invited Aucklanders from the diverse ethnic communities to come forward and be an embodiment of their cultures. This year, we have shortlisted 11 contestants who will now walk on the ramp on October 15 for the ‘Cultural Extravaganza’ round and will showcase the traditional fashion from various parts of India.
Out of the 11 contestants, only a few will get the chance to enter the final round on October 16 and show their talent through the ‘Talent Show’ round. While only two will be able to take home the trophy for Mr Diwali and the crown for Ms Diwali, the contestants entering the final round will need your votes to reach the top spot, which will make up for the 50 per cent of the final scores. So keep an eye on our Facebook page for the voting instructions on Saturday, October 15.
Apart from the fashion contest, Indian Weekender is also organising many other exciting activities on site that give you a chance to win interesting prizes and goodies. So do visit our marquee at the Aotea Square, get your picture clicked in our special Face of the year frame, and come and say hello to our team that brings you your favourite news magazine every week.
In a special feature, we are introducing the contestants here who expect to impress you will their appearance and talent at the biggest celebration of Indian culture in Auckland.
Female contestants
Geetanjali Jaglan
Geetanjali originally hails from India and has been living in New Zealand for more than a year now. Fond of reading and playing volleyball, Geetanjali is an hotelier by profession and loves Italian and Indian cuisines. She believes that honesty and hard working attitude are her greatest strengths. Her ambition is to become a freelance trainer. Through this contest, she wanted to explore the stage, get a feel of the ramp and let people know her better.
Devika Mhetar
Devika is a young food technologist and believed that her occupation is best suited to her favourite hobby i.e. eating. Being a typical foodie her work gives her an opportunity to eat and try out various new food items. Being born and brought up in the family of police officers, she has lived a disciplined lifestyle. Her father has inspired her to be selfless. A lover of spontaneity and adventure, Devika loves to find adventure in every small aspect of her life. She is strong believer of ‘simple living and high thinking’. She dedicates her success to her mother and sister. She is a perfect blend of a desi girl with an attitude of accepting new changes in life.
Shaira Kiran
Born in New Zealand and raised in California, Shaira studied accounting. She is a freelance model and has worked on a few assignments in New Zealand. Her hobbies include spending time with her kid, cooking, playing sports, singing, and exploring new places. Her ‘can do’ attitude of accepting challenges and self-motivated personality are her greatest strengths. Being a self-disciplined person makes it easy for her to adapt to any kind of environment very quickly.
Sandeep Kaur
Sandeep Kaur hails from Ambala in India and arrived in New Zealand in 2010. She says that coming to a new country at a young age has taught her a lot and has made her independent. The country has given her lot of lovely friends. She enjoys visiting new places, bhangra, dancing and playing basketball. She wished to make her career is accounting after further studies.
Kia Khan
Kia is the youngest contestant of all in the contest. She is originally from Fiji and has been living in New Zealand from past two years. Modelling is a passion for her and she took part in many events working as a professional model and promoted companies. She has participated in Bollywood Factor Catwalk 2016 and was chosen the runner-up. She also took part in Miss India Worldwide NZ and she was the second runner-up. She feels that being a part of Ms Diwali contest is like a dream come true as it is such a big platform to showcase your talent.
Sukhmani Kaur Sodhi
Sukhmani likes to call herself a ‘pure Punjabi at heart ‘girl. She hails from Ludhiana in India and likes to be close to her culture and tradition. Her motto in life is sarbat da bhala, which means stay happy and keep others happy too. In her spare time, she likes to sing, dance and listen to good music. She is an outgoing girl with a positive attitude; no matter how the situation is, for her happiness and staying positive is the solution to all problems.
Male contestants
Iqbal Singh
Iqbal hails from New Delhi, India and has been living in New Zealand for more than a year now. He is passionate about music, bhangra and singing and currently. Through this contest, he aims to represent his culture and country. He feels that this is a brilliant opportunity for anyone to get a chance to perform on such a huge stage and through this, he can make people aware of their culture.
Sunny Singh
A young singer and artist Sunny cannot imagine a day without music. Originally from Nawanshahr city of Punjab, India, Sunny started calling New Zealand home four years back. A firm believer of ‘happiness is the ultimate solution to all problems’, Sunny keeps inspiring people with his friendly personality and do not leave a single chance to make other happy and bring a smile on everyone’s face. Through this contest, Sunny is looking to explore new opportunities in modelling but not more than showing his singing talent to the thousands of lovely audience gathered at the festival.
Harmeet Singh
The most energetic contestant of all is Harmeet. He is very passionate about his career and wants to do something different and exciting in life. He is always ready to help others and aspires to make a difference in others’ lives. His hobbies include learning new things, dancing, reading and making new friends. He is adamant on winning this contest, as he believes that it would inspire him, even more, to do good for others. He says that he is a hard working and honest person, and hence does not shy away from accepting that name and fame is very important in life and he wants to be famous, but as a Punjabi or an Indian. He says that this is a perfect platform for him to showcase his culture and tradition in New Zealand.
Likith Poovanna
Likith comes from Kodava culture and was born and brought up in the heritage city of India, Mysore. After completing his Bachelors of Engineering-Information Science in Mysore, we went to Sweden for further studies in computer science. Currently software developer by profession, Likith is passionate about modelling, fitness and adventure and loves travelling, cooking and cricket. Being an extrovert, he easily mingles with people from different cultures. Even after blending well into the Kiwi lifestyle, Likith has not forgotten his roots. He lives his life to the fullest and is a giver and ardent believer of philanthropy.
Kariappa Maletira Karumbaiah
Kariappa hails from Coorg, part of India well-known for it the misty hills, lush teakwood, acres of tea and coffee plantations. He comes from a family with defence background and soil where Field Marshal Kodandera M. Cariappa (First Indian commander-in-chief), and General Kodendera S. Thimayya were born. He moved to New Zealand in the year 2014, completed his Master Degree from The University of Auckland and was honoured with Faculty of Engineering Doctoral Scholarship in 2015, and continued with his Doctoral degree in collaboration with BMW Germany at The University of Auckland.
Moreover, in July 2015, he was elected as the President of University of Auckland Indian Society. During his presidency, he has managed to increase the number of members up to 70%, with an average of four events per month. His current project “Walk my Way” highlights women harassment and its impact on the society. Recently, he has been elected as Vice-President of Indian Students Welfare Association, New Zealand. Alongside, he exhibits interests in pencil and charcoal sketches, dancing and writing blogs.
The choreographers
The contestants went through two weeks of training, styling and grooming workshop to help them present themselves well on the stage and guide through the process. The Auckland-based fashion choreography couple Parth Dalal and Bindi Desai Dalal have made dedicated efforts to make this contest the best visual experience for the audience. Let us find out more about the couple.
Bindi Desai Dalal
Bindi started her modelling career while pursuing her graduation in Ahmedabad, India and then moved to Mumbai to advance in her career. She has been a part of many pageants and fashion contest in India, including Femina Miss India 2010, Indian Princess 2011 and other local pageants. She has dome more than 300 shows in her modelling career and has worked with best designers and brands in the industry. She has also done numerous photo shoots for well-known brands, designer labels, advertisements and commercial prints. Currently, she is pursuing her career in Auckland as a fashion choreographer, mentor, and a stylist for the shows, pageants, video/photo shoots, and events. She is also a public speaker and gives lectures on public speaking.
Parth Dalal
Born and brought up in Ahmedabad, India, Parth moved to Mumbai after graduation to shape up his modelling career. It wasn’t too late that he achieved fame after participating in modelling contests. He has his first taste of success when he was selected as Gladrags Finalist 2007, and won the 2nd Runner Up and Mr Photogenic titles in Mr and Miss University India contest in the same year. Soon after he started walking for the well-known designers as a professional model. He has also been featured with well-known clothing brands such as Digjam. So far, he has done more than 300 fashion shows in India and plenty of print advertisements and catalogue shoots for various brands. Currently settled in Auckland, Parth is a working professional and is contributing to the modelling world as the fashion show choreographer, mentor and stylist for newcomers.
What: Indian Weekender Ms Diwali and Mr Diwali 2016-10-13
When: Saturday, October 15 at 6:50 pm | Sunday, October 16 at 6:20 pm
Where: Main stage, Aotea Square, Auckland CBD
