Kuwait, Apr 26: On the completion of 25 glorious years of its existence Kuwait Canara Welfare Association (KCWA) led by its president Anil Fernandes celebrated its silver jubilee with a mega event on Friday 25 April at the American International School, Hawalli from 3 pm. 

A musical show ‘Retro to Metro’ by well-known artistes from Mangalore Adolf, Iqbal, Rajgopal, Shafi, Nayana and their team and the internationally renowned Konkani drama “Aami Nathlyaa Vellar” by Daiji Rang Mandir – Dubai were the main attractions of the event. Dr Gerald Issac Lobo, bishop of Udupi diocese, Ronald Colaco, philanthropist, entrepreneur and president of the International Federation of Karnataka Christian Association (IFKCA), and J R Lobo, MLA of Mangalore South constituency, were guests of honor.

The programme started with prayer song followed by introductions by emcees Deepak Andrade and Reema D’Souza. The Jubilee song written by Lancy Rodrigues was sung by him along with Orson D’souza, Joylene Gonsalves, Deepak Andrade and Reema D’Souza. The entertainment part started with Hindi oldies ‘Badi door se aaye hai’, ‘Main jat yamla pagla deewana’ by Mohammed Shafi and Konkani Song ‘Mog tujo Kitlo Ashello’ by Adolf Jayathilak.

The felicitation part was conducted in four parts with melodious Hindi and Konkani songs in between by Mohammed Shafi, Adolf Jayathilak, Iqbal and Nayana Rajgopal. The audience thoroughly enjoyed old and new Hindi songs such as 'Rote hue aate hai sab', 'Dol Baje', 'Parda Hai', 'Kya hua tera wada', 'Battameez dil', 'Senorita', 'Kora kaagaz ka ye mann' etc along with Konkani numbers. The music was provided by Rajgopal (guitar), Prakash (drum), Deepak (keyboard), Jackson (bass guitar) and Rajesh (tabla and congo). An instrumental played by Rajagopal’s son mesmerized the audience.

President Anil Fernandes welcomed all with his presidential speech. Francis Misquith and Pascal Monteiro were honored with bouquets, shawl and momento by Bishop Gerald followed by souvenir release. Naveen Mascarenhas was honored with a gift for his contribution towards the souvenir. 

Bishop Dr Gerald Issac Lobo was felicitated by KCWA after which he delivered a speech wishing KCWA success in their mission. He appreciated KCWA for supporting education in India and for providing a platform for Konkani programmes. Priests, clergy and Carmel school superior were honored with bouquets.

MLA J R Lobo honored Elias Sanctis for receiving district Rajyotsava Award and Pascal Pinto for his service to the community with bouquets, shawls and mementos. Sunil Jain, Indian Ambassador to Kuwait along with MLA J R Lobo honoured sponsors and Walter Nandalike of daijiworld.com for their support towards the cause of KCWA. Daijiworld founder and chief editor Walter Nandalike spoke a few words encouraging KCWA. Sunil Jain, Indian Ambassador to Kuwait honoured J R Lobo. Both of them delivered jubilee message to the audience. Sunil Jain asked people in Kuwait to support education in India. He said Mangalore is a beautiful place and Mangaloreans should encourage tourism in their city. J R Lobo asked the community to participate in politics, government jobs and educations such as IAS, IPS etc instead of going to abroad. He asked to send the children of NRIs to India instead of other countries such as Canada, Australia etc.

Louisa & Vallie D'sa couples and Mabel & Sam Alphonso couples were introduced and honored with flower bouquets, shawl, traditional cap, fruits and momento in recognition of their persevering and continuous support to KCWA by Bishop Gerald along with Ex-Presidents of KCWA Lawrence Pinto, Stephen Machado, Felix Saldanha, Pascal Pinto, Rudy D’Souza and Ida D’Silva. Considering KCWA’s contribution, Sam Alphonso donated KD 5,000 to KCWA.

Ronald Colaco was brought to the stage with traditional decorated umbrella. He was honored with bouquets, Royal overcoat, crown, fruits and memento by Bishop Gerald and KCWA president Anil Fernandes. Rudy D’Souza read out the ‘Maan Patr’ and Ronald Colaco was bestowed by honorary title “KONKAN KUNVOR” in recognition of his philanthropic contribution to the society. He started his message in a humorous way and said that most of associations eat, greet, meet and depart whereas KCWA educates the unfortunate economically backward children. He asked everyone to keep a share of their savings for charity as he does and asked the spouses to support each other as his wife supports him. Supporting the Ambassador’s idea of tourism development in India, he asked the Indian businessmen in Kuwait to invest in a convention center type project to attract tourists to Mangalore. All the singers and musicians were honored with mementoes.

The long-awaited internationally renowned Konkani drama “Aami Nathlyaa Vellar” by Daiji Rang Mandir – Dubai started with a tribute to Kuwait’s Konkani Writer and Actor Johny Suratkal. The original play written by Madhusudan Kalelkar in Marathi, then played in Kannada translated by Ramanand Choorya (Nav IIlladaga) has created ripples wherever and whenever it has been performed. The play, a blend of emotion, suspense and comedy has captured the hearts of Konkani theatre lovers with its electrifying moments and high voltage performance by amateur performers from Daiji Rang Mandir. The play is based on the true life story of a naval commander and his family, which became a sensational case in Maharashtra back in 1959. The drama was directed/acted by Dayan D’Souza and the actors were Walter Nandalike, Asha Correa, Alphonse D’Souza, Nanu Marol, Allwyn Pinto, Godwin Castelino, Pradeep Barboza, Ketan D’Souza, Kumar Fernandes, Sandeep D’Souza, Regan Fernandes, Prathima Castelino and Cynthia Irene Pinto. The music scores were provided by Kethan D’Souza and Arun D’Almeida. 

Daiji Rang Mandir honored KCWA president Anil Fernandes with a memento.

The programme was ably compared by Deepak Andrade, Reema D’Souza, Lancy Rodrigues, Vijay D’Souza and Louis D’Costa. Caesars and Issnad Urban Development were the main sponsors of the event and Daijiworld was the official web sponsor.

A series of events such as The Silver Jubilee Monthi Fest on September 8, 2013, a family retreat on September 12, 2013, Silver Jubilee Athletic Meet on October 16, 2013, a talent competition on November 22, ‘Christmas Party’ on December 6, and KCWA Cricket Cup on March 7 were conducted as part of year-long celebration.

KCWA is an organization of Catholics hailing from different parishes of Mangalore and Udupi diocese, presently residing in the State of Kuwait. A seed that was sown by KCWA founder members Francis Misquith, Elias Saldanha, the late Charles Vaz and the late Johnny Misquith in July 1988 with a mission and a vision to help in the upbringing of unprivileged children and families, has today grown into a gigantic tree. Over the years, the KCWA has generated donations of approximately Rs 2.8 crore towards education and humanitarian needs in India and Kuwait, a major share of which is directed towards the cause of education for children in the rural areas in Karnataka.

• KCWA at 25: Glorious journey through the years