News: Dr Jagadeesh Kumar
California, May 16: Tulsi Tulu Koota (Tulu Association, California) celebrated their annual Bisu Parba 2025 with the coming together of people connected to the Tulunadu regions of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, currently residing in the Northern California region.
Following the tradition of earlier years, this year also showcased a beautiful setup of Bisu Kani items and Tulunadu heritage items displayed in the backdrop of a large Tulsi banner designed by Anitha Naik and Gayatri Maiya.
The event started off with two junior emcees Pranavi and Srivatsa starting the conversation in Tulu with a quick background on what Bisu is about and why it is celebrated in Tulunadu. Though it was a short introduction, it was delivered well in Tulu by the little emcees growing up in America. A melodious Ganapathi stuthi (prayer) rendered by Apurva Sparshith gave a divine start to further proceedings of the event. Following the prayer, Anitha Naik, founder of Tulsi, welcomed the new members to the group and communicated the vision of Tulsi Tulu Koota, its brief history and how the current activities are aligned to the vision. She highlighted the significance of Bisu as an event to celebrate and offer gratitude to mother earth for sustenance of life through bountiful harvest and how Tulsi as an organization has been celebrating this over the years. Continuing previous year’s tradition, a Tulu lipi (script) learning board was on display at the venue and Dr Jagadeesh explained briefly about the history of Tulu script and how easy it is to learn the Tulu script from his experience. Anitha Naik then expressed vote of thanks to all the participants of the event and to the Bisu organizing team Shakila Ramesh, Anupama Rai, Sandeep Rai, Deepa Salian, Ashwin Kunder, Ravikala Jagadeesh, Dr Jagadeesh Kumar, Rashmi Shetty, Megha Shetty and many others who made organizing such an event possible.
The afternoon was much more exciting with a sumptuous meal and a variety of fun filled events. The Udupi style food prepared by a chef from Udupi region, which included delicacies such as holige, payasa, chattambode, pineapple menasinakai, jackfruit (gujje) pallya, tender mango pickle was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Post lunch, everyone participated in a variety of fun events with great energy and enthusiasm. There were many new families that joined the Bisu event this year and they expressed their happiness at getting introduced to the Tulsi and Bisu event this year. An interesting game of ‘Tarayi Katta’ (coconut cracking competition) was organized by Sparshith Rai, was played between two teams, which is a unique game of this year’s event. Another game was arranged by Anitha Naik, testing the knowledge of geography of Tulunadu, saw even more energetic and spirited competition from both teams. This game required each team to draw a map of Tulunadu district boundaries on ground with a rope and then have a person stand at appropriate locations representing multiple cities/towns within that map. This game was yet another unique game of this year’s Bisu event.
Following the games, the crowd joined together to perform a Tulu folk dance sequence ‘Moodai Banodu Sooryana Rang Dennana Denna’, choreographed by well-known dance guru Megha Shetty. It was an impressive set of synchronized moves by a large gathering making it a great sight to watch. Before concluding the event, the teams also participated in impromptu Tulu skit events showcasing their talent to come up with unique ideas in a short time and display them on stage, entertaining the gathering.
It was a memorable event for everyone with opportunities to meet other fellow Tuluvas and well-wishers along with great food and fun filled games and activities, at the picturesque Fremont Lake Elizabeth Park on a cool, yet sunny day of May 4. Everyone got a chance to write their names in Tulu following the instructions on the Tulu script board, which gave an idea to the participants how easily they could learn the script by spending a few sessions of dedicated effort to learn and practice.
The photos and videos of the event were captured by all enthusiastic participants to cherish the fun-filled day of Tuluvas living in the northern California region.