“Crowns aren’t made of rhinestones. They are made of discipline, determination, and a hard to find alloy called courage.”

These are the qualities that the women of Connecticut displayed on Saturday, Nov 2^nd in Cromwell, CT at the Miss India Connecticut 2019 Pageant. The pageant, directed by Sumathi Narayanan, featured the following categories: Jr. Pre-Teen, Pre-Teen, Teen, and Mrs. A total of 24 contestants participated in the pageant and confidently portrayed Indian culture, unique talents, and American pride with grace and elegance. The pageant was not just about outer beauty, but also valued inner beauty, intelligence, and ambition of the young women of Connecticut.

Miss India Connecticut is associated and part of IFC, a pioneer in organizing Indian pageants and fashion shows in USA, and aptly called the ‘Mother of all Indian Pageants in USA.’ The event started with an opening dance choreographed by P&P Dance Crew of CT, in which all the contestants performed energetic and graceful introductory dances alongside the reigning Miss India CT 2018 - Alka, Mrs. India CT 2018 - Rekha, Miss Teen India CT 2018 - Nikitha, Mrs India USA 2018/Mrs India Worldwide RU 2019 - Vidhi . The opening dance was then followed by the ethnic wear round, where each contestant proudly displayed their Indian culture. Next was the talent round, in which contestants displayed their talent through dance and musical performances, acting, martial arts, crafts, and even magic shows! The contestants then gave their introduction in the evening gown round. Lastly, the finalists amazed everyone with their wits in the question and answer round.

Miss India Connecticut also launched Awards to Youth and Outstanding Women from Connecticut to honor their achievement and selfless service to community. In Youth category awards were given to Athulya Narayanan - Excellence in Visual Arts, Sarah Girach - Excellence in Sports. In Outstanding Women category awards were given to Purnima Shah - Excellence in Leadership, Shilpa Gohil - Excellence in Community Service, Urvi Pathak - Excellence in Dance and Vidhi Dave - Excellence in Philanthropy.

The judges of the pageant were accomplished patrons of the arts from the MA, NJ and CT. The judges’ panel included: Hemant Pandey, Miss India Florida State Director and a film maker/organizer of New Jersey Indian International Film Festival; Tirthankar Das, a filmmaker and music composer from New Jersey; Sankar Gangaikondan, a singer and musician form Massachusetts; Shaila Verma, Artistic Director of Shaila School of Dance in Massachusetts; Twinkle Morbia, Renowned Clothing/Jewelry designer from Massachusetts and Jacqueline Clarke, Fresh Face Model Agent of John Casablanca from Connecticut.

Finally, the crowning moment arrived! Various subtitles were given in each category. The crowned winners of each category are: