Report: Iqbal Manna
Doha, Feb 15: It is that time of the year when weather dictates the activity levels of Doha dwellers. A fine Friday sunny afternoon with a raft of cool air sure calls for a good outing and February 12 was just one of those days. Karnataka Muslim Cultural Association (KMCA), an affiliate organisation of Indian Cultural Centre, under the aegis of the Embassy of India, Doha Qatar, held its annual fest, the KMCA Family Fiesta, a well packaged set of competitions, entertainment, food stalls and games, at the Al-Jazeera Academy.
The event, in its second edition, that has seen the best of culinary skills from Karnataka Muslim women and the artists hidden in them, again brought the opportunity to present the best from the entire family and this time the dads were not left behind. The cooking competition in 3 categories, namely Karnataka celebration meal, international cuisine and delicacies from Quran and Sunnah got huge response. The children put their creatives to canvas in the drawing competitions for juniors and seniors, young women transfered their eye for intricacy in henna competition and the unique highlight of the day was the dad and child team putting their minds and skills together for a live salad making competition. A special category to celebrate the spirit of family was introduced for a family participating in maximum categories.
For entertainment, stand -up comedian, the talented Mark Zubair of the Sony TV Comedy Central and Pro Kabbadi fame was specially flown in for the event from Bengaluru. He evoked non-stop laughter riot among the audience for the better part of an hour.
Master Chef Dr Gregory Lobo, consultant to ITC Foods was specially flown from Karnataka to judge the cooking competitions along with chef Arkan from Mercure Grand Doha. It was a challenging feat for the judges as they pondered over some of the best dishes they had seen in some time put up by the participants with fervor to impress and express. The numbers when tallied revealed the winners.
The chilly evening saw the best of the home cooked dishes put up by Hidayah Foundation in their Cafe Hidayah, offered at nominal prices, which left the attendees licking their fingers on servings of biryani, haleem, chicken sukka with parata, chicken manchurian, delicious cup cakes and more, the best combination for the cold weather. The South Kanara chaats were served by SKMWA food stall, among which the charmuri was a superhit with the audience.
The prize distribution ceremony commenced with a gesture of honoring the recently departed souls of the brave Indian jawans in Siachen by observing a minute of silence. KMCA president Niyaz Ahmed welcomed the distinguished guests, leaders of other community organisation, gathering and the participants. The chief guest Master Chef Gregory Lobo, guest of honour Milan Arun addressed the audience, after which, community organisation leaders and representatives were invited to give away the prizes, trophies and gifts to the winners.
The evening concluded with the announcement of the launching of the release of KMCA web portal dedicated to cooking, recipe and chefs aptly named 'Khazana', conceptualized and managed by the KMCA ladies wing and cultural secretary Aisha Rafique along with Dana Imran Sheikh. The portal is open to any food enthusiast and can be found at khazana.kmca.qa.
The event was compered by Dana Sheikh and Huda Mudasser. The prizes were announced by Sana Zia.
It was a fun, wholesome and rewarding evening for one and all, yet another feather in the cap of the leader, KMCA president Niyaz Ahmed.
Winners of various competitions
Karnataka celebration meal
1. Nasari Thabith
2. Sana Basheer
3. Arshia Zafar
International cuisine
1. Arshia Zafar
2. Fouzia Abdul Munaf
3. Tabassum Shafi
Delicacy
1. Arshia zafar
2. Aliya Banu
3. Noorein Sufia Khan
Dad and me - Live cooking
1. Abdulazeez
2. Krish Kumar
3. Sameer Ali Baig
Henna competition
1. Majida Mahmood
2. Sheikh Shazia
3. Nadia Imran
Drawing competition - Seniors
1. S R Shrustigi
2. Jewel Pinto
3. Rayyan Ahmed
Drawing competition - Juniors
1. Zara Aslam
2. Fazan ahmed
3. Mohd Adaan
Family with the most participation
Mohammed Saeed Assadi with Nyla Rasheed, Fahad Saeed and Ahmed Saeed