New franchise owners to add more cultural training for delegates

IT WAS a love and passion for their Indian culture that led Melicia and Hashim Alli to decide the time was right to take over the Miss India Guyana franchise when it went up for grabs earlier this year.

Melicia and Hashim acquired the franchise in June and will be hosting the first Miss India Guyana pageant under their directive next month.

The pair already stands as franchise holders for the Miss Global International Guyana which has made many strides over the years on the international scene, going as far as taking the international crown last year. Now they’re hoping to do the same for the Miss India Guyana pageant.

“Promoting the Indian culture for decades is an active attribute of ours and with our track record in the pageant world we saw it fit to take on this mandate,” Hashim said in an exclusive interview with The Buzz.

The co-founder of Nachle Designs, he is positive that he and his wife have what it takes to see the Miss India Guyana pageant take off to higher heights, otherwise they would’ve never gone through the tough process of acquiring the franchise.

“The acquisition of the franchise was not a walk in the park. A lot of detailed conceptualising and strategising had to be done, and the level of commitment needed was taken into consideration. The Indian Festival Committee (IFC) of New York, owner of the Miss India Worldwide pageant, has been very supportive in making the process very professional though,” he conveyed.

He stressed that they understand the big shoes they have to fill in upholding the standard of the pageant, and taking the pageant from where it is to where they want it to be.
“The legacy of Miss India Worldwide Guyana has been a sterling one and we are sure that with our attributes we will uphold and improve this prestigious torch that we have now inherited,” he said.

Under their stewardship, he hopes to see the pageant open even more ways for the delegates entering the pageant to connect with their cultural roots. They hope to see this done by adding a number of cultural aspects to the training period for the girls.

“One of our newest additions to the pageant will be the exposure to the Indian culture and heritage. This year all of the finalists will be awarded training in Hindi, kathak dance, Indian musical instrument playing, yoga, sari draping and Indian cooking classes, which will offer a closer connection to their rich culture and traditions,” Hashim explained.

This, they hope, would work in their favour in improving the quality of the Guyanese queen as she prepares to represent her country at the international level.

The 2018 Miss India Worldwide pageant is slated for December 9-14. “Locally we will be holding our Miss India Guyana pageant on October 27, giving the local queen just under two months to prepare to make it on the international scene,” he said.

According to Hashim, the applications have already been pouring in ever since they put out the word that the search is on for a new queen

Guyana has seen incremental improvement at this international pageant over the years. The reigning queen, Sangeeta Bahadur, finished as second runner-up last year, while in 2016 Guyana finished in the Top 10 at the pageant.

But getting results is what Hashim and Melicia do. Working on the Miss Global International pageant, they saw their delegate finishing in the Top 10 the first year they took over the franchise. They continued to see incremental increases in the following years as the Guyanese girls continued to do well, until last year’s delegate Cynthia Dookie won the international crown.