Doha: Dr Shantaram Shetty Speaks on Education at First-ever Bunts Qatar Meet
News and Pics: Alexis Castelino
Daijiworld Media Network - Doha
Doha, May 1: The first-ever Bunts Qatar meet was held at the Layan Garden club house on Saturday April 30.
The evening began with an introduction by Prathana Shetty about Bunts Qatar and thereafter the stage was handed over to master of ceremony and well-known personality in Qatar Rammohan Rai who began the evening in his inimitable style.
President Ravi Shetty and vice-president Prakash Ajila escorted the guest of the evening Dr Shantaram Shetty to the stage while Jyothi Shetty escorted his wife Vasanthi Shetty. Bouquets were presented to the guests.
To give this evening a traditional touch a lamp was lit by Vasanthi S Shetty and Shailaja Vittal Shetty.
Rammohan Rai read out Dr Shantaram Shetty’s achievements and his contribution to the society in the fields of social and charity works.
Dr Shantaram Shetty and his wife Vasanthi Shetty were felicitated by Rammohan Rai and his wife by with a shawl, garlands and mementos.
In return, Dr Shantaram Shetty thanked the Qatar Bunts and emphasized that the motto of the Bunts should be to keep up the unity of the community, apart from supporting the needy with charity, assisting in the cause of education of needy children and opposing the dowry system.
He urged to the Bunts community to give more attention to female education. When a male is educated, only one person is educated; but if a female is educated it means that the whole family is educated, he noted, and said that education alone can help in putting an end to the dowry system in the community. His speech impressed the listeners as he captured everybody’s attention with his jovial talk and meaningful message.
The new president in his address emphasized the importance of the gathering and the motto of Qatar Bunts. He urged all Qatar Bunts to unite for a good cause and support the needy people. He also spoke about the future charity plans. He thanked all those who had worked hard to host such a big gathering. He also thanked Dr Shanthram Shetty for his presence during this unique celebration.
Every year the Qatar Bunts will be honouring one personality for his or her service to the community in Qatar. This year it was decided to honour Divakar Poojary for his selfless service towards the various communities in Qatar.
Divakar Poojary was felicitated by Qatar’s longtime resident and community leader Abdul Hye. Divakar Poojary spoke and thanked the Qatar Bunts president and all members for choosing him for such a big honour, and said that this award would give him further encouragement towards furthering his charity work. Divakar Poojary is a longtime resident of Qatar. He has served as president and executive committee member in various organizations and also as president and general secretary of ICBF.
Bunts Qatar students were felicitated for their meritorious performance and outstanding achievements. A felicitation ceremony was conducted by Akshata Shetty. The students honoured were:
1) Vandya Shetty, daughter of Amarnath and Sharmila Shetty
Vandya Shetty was the head girl of Dukhan English school for the year 2010-11
and also a school topper in IGCSE “0” Level.
2) Aishwarya Shetty, daughter of Manjunath and Sudha Shetty
Aishwarya Shetty was a school topper in 10 standard in the year 2010 and is presently the head girl of MES. She was also the winner of the inter-school championship in discus throw and shot put, and was selected to represent Qatar (CBSE affiliated schools in Qatar) in CBSE national-level meet held in India.
3) Pranav Shetty, son of Naresh Shetty and Vijaya Shetty
Pranav Shetty has won the under-13 category in inter-school swimming competition which was held in Doha, coming first in 50 meter free style, 4 x 100 free style relay and 4 x 100 meters medley relay and was also selected to participate in Jaipur.
4) Shresht, son of Navaneeth and Archana Shetty
Shresht has successfully participated in the talent splash swimming competition for CBSE, ICSE schools and a private school of Karnataka, which was held during February this year. He won prizes in 200 meter individual medley, 100 meter back stroke, 100 meter breast stroke, 4 x 50 meter individual relay and 4 x 50 meter free style
5) Teeshta, daughter of Rajesh and Jyothi
Teeshta participated in the Bournvita quiz competition hosted by Derek O'Brien, and also bagged the individual championship for 4 years in the cluster swimming competition in Qatar. She has won medals and participated in the zonal level swimming competition held in Abu Dhabi.
The vote of thanks was proposed by Prarthana S Shetty, guest artistes Jyothsna and Sandesh kept the audience entertained with a musical performance.
The first-ever Bunts Qatar committee comprises:
Executive committee:
President - M Ravi Shetty
Vice-president - Prakash Ajila
General secretary - Navaneeth Shetty
Treasurer - Dhananjay Shetty
Sports coordinator - Uday Shetty (Hilti)
Cultural coordinator- Akshata A Hegde
Ladies coordinator- Vijaya N Shetty
Joint secretary - Roshan Shetty
Committee for special needs:
Deepak Shetty
Dr Rajith Shetty
Santhosh Shetty (Emirates)
Seetharam Shetty
Prakash Shetty (QNCC)
Dayanand Shetty
Advisory Panel:
Jaya Shetty
Rammohan Rai
Mahabala Shetty
Manjunath H K
Chandrashekar Shetty
Ramachandra Shetty
Dineshchandra Shetty
Krishna Shetty
Sudhakar Shetty
Sathish Shetty
R T Shetty
Harish Shetty