Sarita Pattnaik crowned Mrs. India USA; Crystal Favorito honored
(Left) (Photo: Vinod Devlia)
After winning Mrs. India Georgia in October in the Atlanta “Shine Bright like a Diamond” Pageant, Sarita Pattnaik was crowned as Mrs. India USA in Fords, NJ on December 18, 2016. A total of 52 finalists from around the country participated in the national pageant. Sarita, or Rinki as she is known in Alpharetta, Georgia, also won the sash for best Catwalk. As a winner of the India USA pageant, Sarita will go on to the India Worldwide competition, which will be held in Mumbai this year.
(Right) Crystal Favorito, seen here as Miss Teen India - Georgia 2016, became first runner up for Miss Teen India USA and also won Miss Congeniality. (Photo: John Gladson of Gladclicks)
Crystal Favorito, the 14-year-old Roswell freshman who had won Miss Teen India - Georgia 2016 in October in Atlanta, became first runner up in December for Miss Teen India USA and also won Miss Congeniality. Sonny Molu, state director for Georgia, won State Director of the Year award and was also presented a plaque.
(Left) Sarita won Mrs. India Georgia a few months before. (Photo: John Gladson of Gladclicks)
Of all the competitions, Mrs. India USA, which was started only two years ago, is growing the fastest. The first Mrs. India USA was Namita Dodwadkar, now Mrs. India Worldwide 2016 and cohost of this year’s pageant. Actor and model Aryan Vaid participated, as did former Miss India Trinidad Anuradha Maharaj.
Judges included Ms. Vandana Sharma – Regional Manager of the Americas for Air India; Lalit K. Jha – Chief US Correspondent, Press Trust of India; Deepak Chopra – Creative Director of TV awards shows from Mumbai; Ruchi Prasad, an IT professional; and Alesha Mills, a stylist. The crowning was followed by a lavish dinner and dance.
“I was married early,” says Sarita (an “Oriya girl” who has been in Atlanta for 10 years), “and as such could have given up on my dreams and my education—but I knew what I wanted to do in my life: start my own interior decoration business and also volunteer for charitable organizations that work for underprivileged women and children. So I was resilient and continued to explore different projects and also started supporting one child’s education with the limited funds that I had. My dreams started expanding, to embrace new experiences and new worlds. It was the right time for me to step into the world of beauty pageants. I fell, stumbled, but always managed to pick myself up and move on. These experiences taught me a lot about myself and the people that I have surrounded myself with. A strong sense of humor and my loving relationships have kept me going through everything. My red letter day came when I won the Mrs. India USA pageant and was selected to participate in Mrs. India Worldwide 2017. With the kind of face recognition that this honor brings me, I can start my own organization to help kids from poor households. I strongly believe faith can move mountains and every woman needs to tap into her inner strength to achieve her dreams. I want to be an example for every woman and girl out there.”
Website Bonus Feature
Links:
http://www.worldwidepageants.com
"Roswell Freshman Crowned Miss Teen India Georgia;
Crystal Favorito was also named first runner up in the Miss Teen India USA pageant in New Jersey."
By Damita Thomas (Patch Staff) - May 2, 2017 8:59 am ET
https://patch.com/georgia/roswell/roswell-centennial-student-wins-pageant-awards
Updated 5/5/17]
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