NRI Pulse

Tribute to Atlanta Naari

Nida Shariff: The woman behind Diwali Mela

‘Tribute to Atlanta Naari’, a photographic ode to Atlanta women.

They are mothers and wives, sisters and daughters. They are successful professionals and strong role models. They lead with their hearts and give back to the community. Let us salute the ‘heroes’ of our community!

Photography and Concept: Divya Desai
Make-up: Kripa Bhatt

Very seldom are people endowed with beauty, brains, talents and humility. Nida Shariff is one of them. Nida, who has exemplified herself in various community activities, is a recipient of the Award for Excellent and Continued contribution to the Community by Gov. Nathan Deal in the year 2014.

Born in India, Nida moved to the US at a very young age. She credits her father as a true inspirer and is grateful to her husband for his unflinching support.

Nida has been very active in the community since her high school days in NJ, where she organized many fashion shows and art exhibitions as early as at the age of 16.  She cherished her passion in fine arts/fashion design throughout her college career and was also one of the two students who received art scholarship for the prestigious Moore college of Arts during her senior year.

 

Nida moved to Georgia in 1997 and became very active in the South Asian community by volunteering to organize local events. She was the secretary for India American Cultural Association (2015) and has been part of the organizing committee in events such as Indian Idol, beauty pageants and Festival of India.  Nida was the pageant director for Miss/Teen pageants (2014/2015) and was also chosen to judge the prelims in the Miss/Teen/Mrs pageant. She was also recognized for supporting and as acting Public Relations for Mrs. India International Pageant (2016).

Nida is also an event organizer and promotes several Bollywood events for local communities. Nida has acted in few plays and was recognized for an outstanding dedication and performance.  She is also a part of Atlanta theater group, Dhoop Chaon. Nida has organized and choreographed many Fashion shows, mentored many young girls over the years and helped them build self-confidence and poise.

Professionally, Nida pursues a career in the healthcare industry as a clinical research coordinator.

In 2016 Nida organized and managed the first annual Zee TV &TV Diwali Mela in Atlanta, which was a huge success. She followed it up this year with another successful Diwali mela.

“I have been part of many community events here in Atlanta which motivated me to start the Atlanta Diwali Mela.  I wanted to do something good and exciting for the community, and what’s better then Diwali,” she said in an email conversation with NRI Pulse. “This is an annual event and we will continue to bring bigger entertainment for the community as long as we get the support needed.  There will be other events coming soon as well.”

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