Maya Sarihan wins 'Miss India America' title

Physiology student Maya Charuni Sarihan from Scottsdale, Arizona, was crowned the 22nd Miss India America 2014 in Los Angeles.

Meghana Pagadala, a student at CalTech University in California was the first runner up followed by actress Vivica Mitra from Southern California.

Chinese-born American actress Bai Lin, Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, NBA Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and NFL soccer player Bret Lockett attended the event led by Jinnder Chauhan of Spirit of India.

The contest started off with the traditional Indian wear round, followed by a talent round. The final round was the Western formal wear one.

Sarihan, 20, sang Paani Da Rang (from the Bollywood film Vicky Donor).

The winning question was asked by celebrity make-up artist Tamanna Roshan.

'If you could choose to have good grammar or good taste, which would it be and why?' she asked.

Sarihan responded, 'You can have all the beautiful clothes and jewellery in the world, but a woman who can't speak for herself, can never be considered beautiful.'

Sarihan said it was her first pageant experience. "Two months prior to the competition I walked the ramp for a local Indian fashion show and I guess that's where the modelling bug caught me," she told India Abroad.

"The experience was stressful and magical as well. Stressful, because I didn't want to let anyone down; my parents came all the way from Phoenix to support me, my sponsors invested hundreds of dollars on me, and here I was a complete novice. But when I got on stage that night, I realised it was now or never, and I had to give my very best," she added.

Sarihan's doctor parents, Vijay and Veena Sarihan, hail from Jalandhar, Punjab, and initially were not supportive of her decision to contest.

"Academics are the most important thing in my household so this came to my parents as a shock," Sarihan said. "But the pride I saw in their eyes the night I won made up for the constant struggle I went through over those summer months convincing them."