Report: Shodhan Prasad
Pics: Broadway Events

Sharjah, Nov 21: Karnataka Sangha Sharjah celebrated its 14th annual programme on Friday November 18 with pride and fervour at Sharjah Indian Association Auditorium in a vibrant way. The programme started around 4.30 pm onwards.

The main attraction of this year’s event was UAE-level singing competition wherein the final round was conducted for 'Mayura Raja', ‘Mayura Rani’, ‘Mayura Kumara’ and ‘Mayura Kumari’ honours. Another important event was presentation of the prestigious ‘Mayura Award 2016’ which was bestowed on philanthropist entrepreneur Joseph Mathias during the event.

The event kicked off systematically with singing of Indian National Anthem followed by Kannada ‘Nada Geethe’ and the UAE National Anthem. Later the Karnataka flag was hoisted as a symbol of opening up the programme with all respects and standing ovation. A beautifully choreographed dance performance by Classical Rythms added spark to the event opening. This was followed by singing of patriotic song to open up the UAE-level singing competition, beautifully compered by Rohini Ananth who also choreographed the first dance. She then introduced the guest co-host, the well-known Ravi Santosh, who is also a mimicry artiste, to take forward the programme. The latter took over and handled the ‘Singing Competition’ inviting the participants with introduction as well as the details of the songs one by one.

UAE-level Singing Competition

Madhura Vishwanath started with the first solo round, mesmerizing the whole audience with her perfect classical presentation, giving a professional touch to the competition. This was followed by Vaishnavi Arun Shetty who rendered another beautiful Kannada film song with her strong voice. Akshatha Rao was next, followed by Raghavendra, Krishna Prasad and Shahid Shabaj who gave mind blowing performances which impressed the audience as well as the judges. Next was the children's round wherein Sindhu Satish Kamath, Amoghvarsh Bhat and Sannidhi Vishwanath Shetty performed their solo singing melodiously.

But it was a brilliant performance by the little girl Sannidhi Shetty which took the audience by surprise not only for her perfect singing but also the way she performed rendering it with proper rhythm. One should hail the youngsters' courage and dedication towards Kannada as all of them chose the best of Kannada film songs which enjoy recognition in Sandalwood. Soon was the final round with duet wherein everybody performed well, presenting some peppy numbers. The best singers displayed their vocal qualities in this round helping the judges to finalize the winners. However, the winners' announcement was kept pending until the end. Lecturer-cum-professional singer Anitha D’Souza, Vidushi Suma Narayan, and playback singer Manasa Holla judged the competition throughout professionally.

The formal stage event was later inaugurated by traditional lighting of the lamp by chairman of Mosaco Shipping and film producer Frank Fernandes, MD of Fortune Group of Hotels Praveen Shetty, patron of KSS Mark Denis, director of ACME Building Materials Harish Sherigar, president of Indian Association Sharjah, advocate Y A Rahim and many other dignitaries along with current president of Karnataka Sangha Sharjah Sugandhraj Bekal and other past presidents of the Sangha.

Past president Ganesh Rai took over the formal stage programme gracefully and requested Noel Almeida and Prabhakar Ambalthere (past presidents) to escort the 2016 Mayura Awardee, philanthropist singer/actor Joseph Mathias on to the honouring ceremony. Joseph Mathias along with his wife Flavia and beautiful daughters Tisha and Tianna were welcomed on to the stage respectfully and seated on the dais.

'Mayura Award' to Josesph Mathias

Joseph Mathias was honoured with shawl, Mysore headgear (Peta), bouquet, memento and a felicitation letter which was read out by past president Shantaram Achar.

Like every year Karnataka Sangha Sharjah this year too identified a prominent Kannadiga and honoured him with this award. Joseph Mathias, a well-known businessman, social worker, singer, film actor and most importantly an ardent supporter of Kannada art, folk in this part of the world was the true choice for this prestigious ‘Mayura Award’.

On accepting the award, Joseph Mathias speaking to the gathering expressed his happiness and thanked Karnataka Sangha Sharjah for choosing him for the prestigious award. He said, "Karnataka is the land where we learnt humanity and culture. It is the land which united us due to the sacrifice and commitment of our leaders with great vision, poets and reformers who enlightened the state with rich literature and reformations of society. The same love and compassion towards my motherland is inspiring me to serve my mother tongue and culture." He wished all success to Karnataka Sangha Sharjah for its activities towards humanity and culture and assured his support for such events in the future.

Speaking on the occasion, chief guest and main sponsor of the event, Frank Fernandes congratulated the organizers for their hard work, dedication to make the event a success with their outstanding arrangements as they do every year. He also congratulated Joseph Mathias on receiving the Mayura Award and also prompted his kind support for Kannada in the future too.

On the occasion, Karnataka Sangha Sharjah honoured their member Nityananda Bhandary for his selfless service towards KSS and appreciated his service with garlands and memento. L&T finance chief executive Manoj Shenoy released the brochure of KSS which contains the details of its activities and social services.

Karnataka Sangha Sharjah honoured its sponsors and well-wishers with mementos as a token of gratitude. President of Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha Sarvotham Shetty, chairman of Reliable Fabricators James Mendonca, chief executive of L&T finance Manoj Shenoy, chief of Radio Spice Herman Lewis and chief of Broadway Events Joel Crasta were honoured. Ganesh Rai briefed on the contribution of media and invited all the media representatives starting with Shodhan Prasad who were all honoured with Karnataka Flag shawls. Also honored were presidents of various Karnataka-based organizations.

In between Harish Sherigar presented details of his first production of Kannada Movie ‘March 22’ with clipping.

Musical Extravaganza

The evening continued with musical concert by famous artistes of UAE and guest artiste from Karnataka. The famous musician Rajgopal and his team entertained the audience with spellbinding musical extravaganza. Local singer Harish Sherigar, playback singers Anitha D’Souza who has sung in nine languages and Manasa Holla, Vijaya Bhat, Sai Mallika, Ravi Santosh and others entertained the audience with their melodious numbers from Hindi and Kannada. Many dance troupes performed and enthralled the audience.

Results of the Singing Competition

Winners of ‘Mayura Raja’ & ‘Mayura Kumari’ Children’s category

1) Sannidhi Vishawanath Shetty (First)
2) Sindhu Sathish Kamath (Second)
3) Amoghvarsh Bhat (Third)

Winners of ‘Mayura Rani’ (16 years and above category)

1) Madhura Vishwanath (First)
2) Akshatha Rao (Second)
3) Vaishanvi Arun Shetty (Third)

Winners of ‘Mayura Raja; (16 years and above category):

1) Shahid Shahabaz (First)
2) Krishna Prasad Rao (Second)
3) Raghavendra Prabhakar (Third)

The evening concluded with a vote of thanks.