Aishwarya Rai in "Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2008" List

Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai and sultry Indian actress Mallika Sherawat have been named in the "Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2008" list of the online AskMen magazine.

Aishwarya at no 27 (last year 40) and Mallika at no 67 (last year 78) are joined by Indian American model and food show host Padma Lakshmi at no 66 (not ranked last year).

Over five million AskMen.com readers cast their votes to identify the females from the worlds of music, fashion, sports, and entertainment who have the characteristics they value in a potential companion, like intelligence, humour, charisma and ambition.

Take a look at Top 30 of these celebrities here.

Richa Gangopadhyay of Northville Township, MI

It was on December 31st, 2007 that I had blogged on Richa Gangopadhyay being crowned the 27th Miss India USA at Royal Albert's Palace in Fords, N.J., on Dec 28th. Since then I have seen practically every other day, Google Alerts in my inbox on Richa Gangopadhya. By now every major Indian Newspapers both in India and overseas has covered Richa.

And yesterday I get a email from Rajiv Sanghvi (organizer of Festival of India) that Richa had won Miss India USA. The other piece of information which Rajiv passed on to me which I was not aware of was that Richa was crowned Miss India-Michigan last August at the Festival of India in Downtown Detroit at Hart Plaza which qualified her for the Miss. India-USA pageant to represent Michigan.

Once again congratulations and best wishes to Richa!!. Adjacent image of Richa courtesy of Observer and Eccentric Newspapers

Miss India USA - Michigan Connection

Richa Gangopadhyay (21) who studies at Michigan State University has been crowned Miss India USA 2007 in a beauty pageant held at Royal Albert's Palace, Fords in New Jersey, USA.

Rediff.com reports

Richa, 21, is in her final year at the Michigan State University majoring in Dietetics and Nutrition and enjoys dance, music and movies.

She also bagged the title of Miss Photogenic, and was crowned by the outgoing queen, Ayushka Singh.

Richa will represent USA in the 17th Annual Miss India Worldwide Pageant, also organised by IFC, to be held on February 23, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Indian Beauty - Padmashree Shobana coming to Ann Arbor, MI

Association of India Development brings to you "MAYA" a dance performance by the Indian beauty Padmashree Shobana on October 6th, 2007 from 6-9 PM at 121 Fletcher St., Ann Arbor MI, 48109. Contact Deepa Pendse at 517-214-0584 or email at deepa[at]umich[dot]edu.

Ticket Prices: $55,$35,$20 (Children under 10 free). All proceeds will benefit Association of India Development projects.

Note: This event co-sponsored by University of Michigan Center for South Asian Studies

Hand Crafted Jewelry in Michigan

There is a new online business started by one of our community members here in Michigan which sells nice looking Hand Crafted Jewelry. Check out their website.

Quote from their website:

Our company, Simply Adorable Designs, Inc. was born from a passion for making jewelry. On our website, www.JewelryFolio.com you will find elegant necklaces, unique bracelets, lovely earrings and many more items which are beautifully made and reasonably priced.

Henna and Mehendi Artist in South East Michigan

Meet Bhakti Henna serving South East Michigan for all your Henna and Mehendi needs. Deepali Bhakti, owner of Bhakti Henna a long time resident of Michigan (from the Ann Arbor Area) has done "Indo American, Indian and Pakistani weddings". Check out her website for her client list.

Enjoy this "Mehendi" song from Dilwale Dulhaniya...