Muscat : Dubai's 'Simple' Band Wins Music Lovers' Hearts
Report: Antony D'Cunha-Ghala-Oman
Pics: Praveen Rodrigues, Sharjah-UAE
Muscat, Oct 29: It is said that “people are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges” but not anymore at least for Ghala parishioners. The Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Ghala, under the leadership of parish priest Fr Albert D’Silva, OFM Cap recently unveiled a year-long social and cultural programmes for parish communities in celebration of its silver jubilee milestone under the theme “Celebration of Unity in Faith and Parish Life”.
Ghala parishioners from different nationalities with diverse cultures and social background came together on common platform to partake in Family Fun and Musical Evening. The event witnessed an amalgamation of all cultures with musical show, fun games, spot prizes and food stalls set up by different communities.
The music troupe from Dubai under famous band “Simple” performed exceptionally well winning the hearts and minds of parishioners as the troupe unfolded famous numbers one after another with every vocalist and musician rendering multitalented performance in languages such as Sri Lankan (Sinhala), English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Konkani, Tulu and many more, engaging every community present at the gathering in the common theme “Celebration of Unity in Faith and Parish Life”.
Thushara Kuruvitage, a seasoned musician, multi-lingual singer of Radio Ceylon (the oldest radio station in Asia) calibre and performer/director in TV shows such as SRI TV, etc, set the stage on fire while female vocalist Monica Valdar, “Konkani Swar Manik” Preema Rodrigues D’Souza together with upcoming talent Cresilla Rodrigues, who was one of the semi-finalistat the Gulf Voice of Mangalore 2012, and local artistes of ‘Voice of Oman 2010’- Nirmala Goveas, Jawahar Pinto, Toy Shiran, etc., rocked the stage. The audience couldn't resiste coming on to the floor dancing to the tunes and melodies of the troupe and enjoying the event to the fullest.
‘Konkani Swar Manik’ Preema Rodrigues D’Souza, belongs to Bejai parish, in Mangalore. She is a noted multi-lingual singer and sought after judge for many singing competitions. She was one of the judges at the GVOM semi-final 2012 in Oman. As a singer she was part of many musical shows and has lent her voice to many music albums.
Monica Valdar, belongs to Loretto parish, in Bantwal, Mangalore. She is a noted multi-lingual singer and presenter, currently pursuing her dream project “Desert Flowers” providing a right kind of platform for the aspiring artistes and suitable break to demonstrate their talents. She too has been a judge for many singing competitions and one of the judges at the auditions of GVOM 2012 in Oman.
Fun games for all age groups from kids of age group 5 to adults of age group 80 were organised in keeping with fun and unity in mind but the tug of war for ladies and gents respectively drew everybody’s attention. David D’Souza, Joseph (Joe) Obil, Bosco D’Souza, Adrian, Rocky and others were instrumental in organising and conducting the games.
Lavina D’Sa, emceed the entire programme extremely well with fitting voice quality, required diction and body language to the expectations of the audience and also in meeting the time frame. As always, light and technical system was set and monitored by the parish Techno Service Ministry led by Bosco D'Souza, Suresh and team. Jawahar Pinto, oversaw and collaborated on major event initiatives.
Parish priest Fr Albert D’Silva proposed the vote of thanks and led the concluding prayer in thanking the God Almighty and Mother Mary in gratitude.