-for Miss Guyana Sari Queen
AFTER A battle lasting more than six hours two Thursday nights ago at the National Cultural Centre,  talented 22-year-old Tonaina Samaroo, sponsored by confectioners, ‘Jus Cakes’,  won the Miss Guyana Sari Queen 2011 crown and bragging rights for one year.
She also scored the coveted ‘Best sari’ and ‘Best Talent’ prizes of the pageant.
Her runners-up were 22-year-old Mohini Roopchand, sponsored by Rockies Brazilian Bar, who copped the ‘Best Stage Appearance’ prize to place second; 17-year-old Ivonna Dasrat, sponsored by Cell Kin, who placed third; 18-year-old Kamini Ramlachan, sponsored by Prita’s Fashion, who placed fourth; and 18-year-old Ashmini Singh, sponsored by Singh and Sons construction, who placed fifth.
The four main features of the event were an introduction segment, a talent segment, a grand sari display, and the final question.
These core events, though, were accompanied by a host of other side events, and included performances by local musical icons, Devindra Pooran and Seeta Panday, dance items by a sitare dance troupe, and performances by local dance veteran, Bibi Haniff.
Dance dominated in the talent segment, with most of the contestants demonstrating a mixture of classical and folk moves to a medley of their choice.
Standing out in this regard were Roopchand, who amused the audience with her ‘neighbour woes’ in a skit that portrayed the message of Diwali love and harmony, and Samaroo, who wowed with her formidable vocal skill.
A special highlight, of course, was the saris, which, as we know, come in a very diverse range of designs. To introduce themselves, the delegates all wore identical baby pink saris with just a touch of silver decoration, and a matching plume headpiece.
Later, in the grand sari display, they had some scope to express themselves with unique saris.
Roopchand was elegant in richly ornamented sea green. Dasrat wore sky blue, Ramlachan rich red, ornamented by gold paisley; Singh a rich forest green ensemble with ornamentation of a lighter green; while Samaroo opted for an unusual colour choice — rich chocolate brown, augmented by gold.
In the much-anticipated — and dreaded – Question-and-Answer segment, the five finalists were asked:
“If you were crowned queen tonight, what would you do during your reign to promote Indian culture?”
Roopchand’s reply was that she would encourage young Indian women to build their self-esteem and be aware of their culture, while Dasrat said she would promote her culture by visiting communities and schools and doing TV shows to make persons aware of Hinduism.
Ramlachan also said she would host TV programmes on the subject, while Singh advocated the forming of communities. Samaroo said she would like to reach out to schools and target the children.
The pageant went on longer than expected, and many persons had already left the venue when the queen was finally crowned at almost 02:00h in the morning.