Shodhan Prasad
Pics by Jovin Dsouzam, Pangla
Daijiworld Media Network
Sharjah, May 20: It was a grand royal celebration of Karnataka Sangha Sharjah's 10th year at Hotel Holiday International, Ball Room, Al Buhaira Corniche, Sharjah on 18th of May, 2012 attended by packed plus Kannadigas who were glued to the seat from morning till late evening presenting various entertainment on a beautifully arranged stage with background of our own Royal Mysore Palace which is an unique Indo-Saracenic architectural structure and one of the famous palace in the world.
Giving importance to Karnataka's five precious spoken languages, Kannada, Tulu, Konkani, Kodava & Byari, the day long programme started at around 11 am and this time Karnataka Sangha Sharjah presented the programme with compilation of varied contributed programmes from various Community Organisations of Karnataka in UAE and by this Karnataka Sangha Sharjah proved to be one of the most pure secular organisation giving importance to all the faiths equally on the same platform.
MC's Monish and Rohini took over the stage and introduced the Srivara Cultural Academy Troup who came all the way from Bangalore and who inaugurated the cultural show with their 'Tamate' playing of drums. The troupe consists of K.P. Devaraj, K.B. Swamy, Ravindranath Srivara, Dr. M. Byre Gowda, Phalguna H, Chathan Kannabur, Arjun Samarth & Nagalakshmi K. Rao.
KSS Vice President, Yadav Kotian welcomed the audience and followed was welcome dance 'Pushpanjali' performed by Athithi Prabhu which was choreographed by Kavitha. Later was 'Suggi Kunitha' by tiny tods of UAE Bunts brilliantly performed by Sannidi, Anvitha, Sparsha, Shrusti Anvi & Natasha and choreographed by Praveen Shetty. Followed was a semi classical dance 'Dheem Tanana Dheem' by Laxmi & Troupe performed by Abhirami, Eesha, Tanishi, Soundarya & Swathi choreographed by Laxmi Surya Kumar.
Next was an yet another beautiful concept by Vincent Fernandes's Mogache Lahran which show cased that religion and language is no barrier when we think of humanity. They presented their concept with people of 3 different faiths in their attires and seated together in the same platform singing same songs in 3 different languages of the faiths. It was gracefully performed by Jacinta, Bryne, Valerian, Roy, Ida, Jimmy, Oswald, Clifford, Sunitha, Gretta, Nigel, Zareena & Sonet.
Marking the decennial celebration was cake cutting done by President Satish Poojary, Patron Mark Denis and all the Committee Members of KSS along with tiny little children around the cake eagerly waiting to have a piece of the sweet mouthwatering cake. Followed was Kannada light music rendered melodiously by a member of Srivara Cultural Academy.
Ramakshatriya Sangha presented a beautiful item titled 'anything may happen anytime in live'. Choreographed by Arudhathi Hawaldar and performed by Mounika, Siddheshwara, Navya, Bhavya, Harshith & Sai Ankita.
Devadigara Sangha presented 'Facebook Mahatme' comedy skit performed by Sandeep, Arun, Hesh Bayyar, Dinesh, Rajesh & Bala. The script originally of Arun Manipal was humoursly directed by Sandeep Devadiga.
Smile Creations presented 'Huttari Habba' a Kodava Folk Dance creatively choreographed by Jashmitha Vivek and performed by Prateek, Ashish, Nilesh, Siya, Megna, Shanell, Ananya, Ashitha, Rithika, Prapti & Karthik.
Show Stoppers presented an electrifying thunderous hip hop Bollywood style and b-boying for Indian song number which shook the stage. This was energetically choreographed and performed by Sajith, Hithesh, Vikyat, Vishal, Anoop, Raana, Shashank, Shruthi, Sheela & Sophia.
Feat Beat Dance Group presented a Konkani Couple Dance choreographed by Arun Lobo and performed by Cleoan & Micole.
Amchigele Samaj presented a beautiful dance for the breathless song of Shankar Mahadevan, choreograped by Prassana Poojary and gracefully performed by Meghna Bhat.
Dwani Prathistana presented a Kannada-Hindi Filmy dance nicely performed by Sanmatha & Niriksha and which was choreographed by Samantha Hegde.
Mudra Musical & Dance Institute presented a Bollywood Fusion Mix which was yet another electrifying performance by Prassana, Vinod, Prashant, Avinash, Sachin, Nithul, Anup, Madona, Hana, Arpana, Laxmi, Parvathi, Trinitha, Indu, Ashwini & Regil well choreographed by Prassana Poojary.
Vishwakarma Seva Samithi presented Akshatha Rao who melodiously sang Kannada filmy song which was very well applauded by the audience. Akshatha is a rising singing star in UAE and has been continuously performing in various programmes throughout winning accolades.
Sirivara Cultural Academy presented another dance act brilliantly performed by mother and son duo Nagalakshmi Rao for a Kannada Film Song 'Baraa Sanihake Baara' from 'Aapta Rakshaka'
Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha presented 'Major Col.' a political satire skit in Kannada directed by Mithrampadi Jayaram Rai and performed by himself with Chetan, Prakash, Vinod, Jesh Bayar, Sampath, Prashanth, Shaila & Rajesh.
It was lunch break and sumptuous buffet wide spread lunch was served to all the audience and guests. During the lunch break was light music with live singing by local talents in various languages.
The afternoon session started with formal stage programme and Ex-President of Karnataka Sangha Sharjah, MC Ganesh Rai took over this part of it. A grand royal procession with drums, trumphets, band & daphli leading the dignitories, guests and Mayura Awardees with colourful umbrellas and ladies, children holding kalasha and flowers greeted them on to the stage in a true traditional manner.
Shri Shri Shri Esha Vittaladasa Swamiji of Sandipani Sadhana Ashram, Shree Kshetra, Kemaru, Most. Rev. Bishop Henry D'Souza, Bellary Diocese, Karnataka & Prof. Abubaker Thumbe, Scholar, Indian School, Ras Al Khaimah were the Chief Guests along with H.E. Francis Xavier, Community Affair Attache of Indian Consulate, Siraj Ahmed of Inland Builders, Dr. B.K. Yousuf, Ex-President of Karnataka Sangha Dubai, Mark Denis Patron of Karnataka Sangha Sharjah, Satish Poojary, President of Karnataka Sangha Sharjah & General Secretary Raju Bhandary, Shekar Shetty of Arab Udupi group of Restaurant, Shivanand Hebbar of Sapil Style Scents accepted the honours and were seated on the stage to grace the function.
It started with the presenting of 'Mayur Awards' to the identified ideal Kannadigas in U.A.E who have excelled in the field of social service, media and entrepreneur and they were M.E. Moolur, Walter Nandalike and Harish Sherigar respectively. M.E. Moolur accepted the award along with his wife, whereas Walter Nandalike accepted the award with his wife, daughters, mother and mother-in-law and Harish Sherigar accepted the award along with his wife and son. Special introduction were read out and each awardee were presented with 'Mysore Peta' (headgear), flower bouquet, fruits, memento, shawl, felicitation letter in photo frame and sapil gift hampers by the Chief Guests and Guest of honours individually. In response to the accepting of award all the three awardees spoke nicely and thanked the organisation and the Kannadiga people for identifying them for this prestigious award this year.
Karnataka Sangha Sharjah this time identified and honoured Shantaram Achar as the best active long standing member of the sangha and he accepted the honours along with his son being felicitated with shawl, flower bouquet, memento, felicitation letter and sapil gift hamper by the Chief Guests and Guest of honours. He thanked the sangha and promised continuous contribution in the future.
This time Karnataka Sangha Sharjah additionally identified and honoured 4 civilians for their total contributions to society for humanitarian causes. They were Shodhan Prasad, Sudhakar Alva, Balakrishna Salian & Ashok Belman respectively. Ganesh Rai announced the deeds of these people and pointed out some of the difficulties being faced which they overcome while helping our needy Kannadigas in this part of the world during distress. Shri Shri Shri Esha Vittaladasa Swamiji of Sandipani Sadhana Ashram, Shree Kshetra, Kemaru personally handed over the mementos and blessed them.
Representatives of the three faiths, Christian, Muslim & Hindu were the Chief Guests and each one were invited to speak which started with Most. Rev. Bishop Henry D'Souza, Bellary Diocese, Karnataka who rendered a short and sweet speech highlighting 'who, how & where' are you going. He said that in the present generation there is no 'guru' nor guri' which otherwise earlier were there both in front and back of you to guide.
Followed was an interesting but a bit lengthy speech by Prof. Abubaker Thumbe, Scholar, Indian School, Ras Al Khaimah who in his initial speech said that the time limit is really short for the subject he would like to cover. He impressed the audience with his vast knowledge touching verses of Holy Geetha, Holy Bible & Holy Quran simultaneously, which as per him was 'people know these verses but might not have understood the phrases written there'. One should understand and follow and only then will be able to lead a happy society as all these holy inscriptions have common saying amongst them.
Last was Shri Shri Shri Esha Vittaladas Swamiji of Sandipani Sadhana Ashram, Shree Kshetra Kemaru an Engineer turned Seer having vast knowledge of philosophy through his interaction with many gurus throughout India including his penance in Himalayas. He initially said that he would not like to speak more and for that matter even did not want to come to Dubai for this function but accepted only because he did not want to turn out the true invitation from his loved ones. His speech was a mix of philosophy with garnish of humour which the audience felt interesting and were craving for more. His final say was 'science and invention are good but one should not abuse it' instead make good use of it. Humoursly he said, do not give mobile phones to your children which may lead to 'not reachable' like the message you receive from these mobile phones. He also pinpointed that web media www.daijiworld.com has provided him continuous support through which he got recognized and able to fulfill his socio commitments.
All the Chief Guests were honoured with Shawl, Flower bouquet, Fruits, Mementos individually and the Guest of honours were also felicitated similarly by the seated guests on the stage. They were all re-leaved from the stage again with honours with band and trumphets.
MCs Suvarna and Shantaram took over the stage with the remaining cultural events of the day starting with UAE Bunts troupe presenting a touching 'Kargil Yodha' dance drama presentation performed lively by Santosh, Kiran, Satish, Sharath, Chethan, Sunil, Rithesh, Vinod, Gananath, Prakash, Prathima, Deepthi, Usha & Jayaram. This inspirational situation recently shown in Indian television channel was here ably choreographed by Rajesh Kuthar.
Milano Daff Committee under the auspices of Beary's Cultural Forum presented a Beary, Kannada & Tulu Song Mix on communal harmony. This was performed by Thoufeeq, Imran, Sharfraaz, Zuhaad, Suhaib, Irfan, Mehraaz & Shabbir with voice rendered by Akbar M.B & M.E. Moolur.
Saurabha Kala Parishad presented a Kannada dance by famous Dr. Sri Vidya focusing on Communal Harmony along with Master Abhyudaya Krishna which was one of the professional type presentation show casting the importance of communal harmony.
Srivara Cultural Academy presented a 'Pooja Kunitha' dance with traditional decorated huge balance act on the head and dancing to the true traditional song which was more of a balancing act which is difficult to perform on the stage.
Daiji Rang Mandir presented a comedy skit titled 'Interview' presented by Alwyn Pinto & group humoursly showing the current political situation in job market.
Devine Dance Group under the choreography of Prassana Poojary presented a semi classical Kannada dance performed by Sachin, Manohar, Niranjan, Deepthi, Devika, Seema, Soujanya, Pavana & Krupa well presented and applauded by the whole audience.
Arun Alva and his troupe presented 'Kolu Manday' a Kannada Filmy dance performed by Rakesh, Sudhir, Sunil, Nijesh, Thilak & Naveen graciously and with cheers.
St. Mary's Konkani Community Church presented Konkani Group dance well performed by Riya, Melanie, Riese, Jewel, Akanksha, Melissa, Aphra, Anuskha, Surya & Aurelia choreographed by Vinod Sequeira.
Moolur Stars presented a beautiful Hindi song mix dance choreographed by Nourine M.E. performed by Shihaan. Shakeeb, Shabeeb, Sameen & Nazeem.
Ocean Kids gave a lovely performance with Kannada Group dance choreographed by Vinod Sequeira performed by Shraddha, Tanya, Akshadha, Ashlyn, Chriselle, Riya, Moksha, Poonam, Stefania, Calida & Melina.
Gammath Kalavideru presented a comedy skit performed by Jesh Bayar, Prashanth, Prakash, Shaila & Rajesh Kuthar directed by himself.
Raju Bhandary,General Secretary of Karnataka Sangha Sharjah proposed the vote of thanks while the lucky Kannadiga draw was being lifted from the coupons.
KSS Donated Rs.50,000/- each to all three religious leaders / guest for noble cause.
The grand royal show of Karnataka Sangha Sharjah got concluded at around 7.30 pm and the Executive Committee thanked all the audience for making the show a successful one.