Bhangra beauties showcase brains and balle balle

Miss Aussie Punjaban is crowned in a glittering ceremony

The title of Miss Aussie Punjaban 13 was presented to an emotional Jasmeet Kaur Sangha, who stood out as the most confident from the beginning.

The doli round went to Prabhdeep Kaur Aulakh, with Amarpreet Kaur taking the title for Miss Intelligent. Anu Chopra won the talent round, while Prabhjot Kaur Virk mastered the catwalk round. Sandeep Kaur Sodhi took away the Beautiful Eyes title in the final giddha round, and everyone was declared a winner.

The lengthy event was interspersed with items presented by local talent and a fancy dress competition for children. The kids looked adorable in traditional outfits from Punjab, and a few enterprising ones easily stole the limelight as they performed in front of an appreciative audience. Some potential Miss Punjabans were well on their way to a future of success.

The pretty, the plump and the petite got together under the banner of Virasate-Punjab recently, to vie for the coveted crown of Miss Aussie Punjaban 2013. The bhangra beauties were participating in a debut event organised by the newly formed Virasat-e Punjab at the Box Hill Town Hall in Melbourne.

The event took off to a colourful start as the six contestants introduced themselves to the audience and the judges. Then followed a talent round, a doli (bridal) round, a catwalk round, a personality round and a group dance round. The pageant was not just about beauty, but was designed to gauge the understanding of Punjabi culture amongst the participants.

The space reverberated with Punjabi music as the participants went through the motions, demonstrating their beauty and brains. The judging panel comprised of community leader and senior Mrs Hardeep Madan, academic and community adviser Jasvinder Sidhu, and socialite Kiran Cheema. The main guests included former VMC Commissioner Usha Sharma, radio host Laxmi Vijay, Charanjeet Singh from Chardi Kala Punjabi newspaper, Anil and Ritu Sharma from India at Melbourne Hindi newspaper and Preeti Jabbal from Indian Link Kelly O’Dwyer, Federal member for Higgins and John Nguyen, Liberal from Chisholm also attended the event and seemed to enjoy the vibrant atmosphere. Kelly was especially taken in by the beauty, colour and sparkle of the traditional outfits that the contestants wore through each round. She endeared herself to the audience by attempting to greet them in Punjabi, and offered her support to the event, and similar events that promote multiculturalism in Victoria.

Prior to the event, the participants underwent a week of grooming sessions under Mrs Harpal Kaur Sandhu, coordinator of the pageant. The audience witnessed the talent of the participants as they sang, danced, spoke and delivered each round with confidence. Amardeep Kaur anchored the show admirably, despite some technical hitches and last minute changes. The first time participants lacked finesse, but made up for this with ample enthusiasm.

The trio of Harmandeep Singh, Randeep Singh and Harpal Kaur Sandhu were instrumental in bringing this amateur event to the audience. They are currently gearing towards their next event that will be held in November this year. “Our next event will be another quest for the best,” said Harpal Kaur Sandhu. “Our focus is to provide a family friendly environment and a platform for young and upcoming talent in Melbourne,” she added. Hopefully lessons would have been learnt and improvements will be in place for people to enjoy similar future attempts from Virasat-E-Punjab.

Simmi Bakshi