A 19-year old student of drama from the United States beat 24 contestants from all over the world to clinch the 18th Miss India Worldwide crown at a glittering event here.
Nikkitasha Marwaha, the Indian-American from Chicago, who floored the audience with her classical Indian dance fusion, won the contest held here on Saturday night, beating contestants from as far afield as Guyana, Fiji and South Africa.
Her version of the dance fusion blew away the judges and captured the hearts of the audience, part of whom gave her a standing ovation for her fast paced, precise and slick movement to music.
Stunned by her success, Marwaha said that she was delighted that the victory will give her a platform to work in communities which were disadvantaged around the world.
"It was a fascinating experience which earned me many friends and has made me even more committed to the cause of Indian people and the greater human kind," she said.
The second place was clinched by Australia's Kanchan Verma, who also danced a spectacular sequence which kept the audience spellbound and enraptured.
"We are all winners. I enjoyed this event very much and over the last week, I met and made many friends," said Verma.
Second runner-up Sunaina Bhoendie of the Netherlands, who caused a sensation with her performance of Bollywood dances, said she had great support from the people of Netherlands and more than 20 of them travelled to South Africa for the pageant.
There were also some shocks at the contest as the candidate from India, Deepthi Varughese, and that from South Africa, Kasrivia Nagesar, failed to make it to the top of competition.
Chairman and founder of the Miss India Woldwide Pageant, Darmathma Saran of New York said that the pageant was a unifying factor for Indians living in 200 countries around the world.
He said that visitors from even non-participating countries travelled to Durban for the event.
Last year's winner, Shugan Sarabhai, from Mumbai crowned this year's winning trio in a glittering ceremony.
