Bahrain: Kudlotsava 2008 Winds up Leaving Audience Asking for ‘More’

by Ronald D’Souza and Joe Andrade
for Daijiworld Media News Network – Bahrain (GA)

After all the sporting events at the Indian Club premises, the stage was set for a unique cultural program as the grand gala finale for the Indian Mega Festival – “More” Kudlotsava 2008 organised by M/s. Lobo International to garnish the nostalgic Mangalorean taste of yesteryears in a typical Kudla setting and in that right spirit.     An impressive three-tier specially erected stage set up by the Moghaveers Bahrain at the Indian Club grounds with all the modern pyrotechnics for the cultural program, was a class in itself.     The stage was bedecked with the typical “Kudla” goodies or bounties, viz. a display of mango branches with leaves, coconut flower blooms and other related items that gave it a bright Kudla cultural imagination to the eye and the right Mangalorean touch for “More” Kudlotsava.

All the participating artistes from the Baikampady Yuvathi Mandal troupe under the guidance of Mrs. Prema Vasudeva Karkera, Karkera and Mohini Vasantha took to marching enthusiastically in parade format on to the stage along with Tiger Dance troupe under the leadership of  Bajlikere Kamalaksha from Car Street, Mangalore, to the rhythm of the Tiger Dance beats with the “tigers”.      It was an impressive` sight to watch the entire contingent presenting themselves to the audience, to the sound of  Tiger Dance beats marching onto the stage to the tumultuous welcoming applause from the packed audience.

This was followed by a Bharathanatyam welcome dance to commence the cultural program.   On the side stage, Vijaya Satyanarayana along with Jagdish, popularly known as the Junior Dr. Raj Kumar,  gave us songs, mostly good old hits in Kannada, Tulu and Konkani entertaining the audience,  accompanied by music from the Symphony Orchestra at regular intervals while the dancers got ready for action.    Other songs sung by the duo

The main organisers of the event, Anand Lobo, Girish Iddya and D. Ramesh in a crisp ceremony, honored the Chief Guest H.E. Balakrishna Shetty, the Indian Ambassador to Bahrain, Guests of Honour, Capt. Mahmood Al-Mahmood from the Ministry of Information Directorate and Ms. Fakhriya Dehari from the Ministry of  Social Affairs, with a token of gratitude, presenting each of them with mementos.    Koshy of More Calling Cards, the main Sponsor  of the evening was also felicitated by the organisers with a befitting memento.    The Chief Guest and the Guests of Honour, addressed the audience in turn.     The organisers of the event were also presented with mementos by H.E. The Indian Ambassador.

Mementoes were also presented to Bajlikere Kamalaksha, 25 years in the Pili Vesha,
Prema Vasudeva Karkera, Karkera and Ms. Mohini Vasantha.    Jagdish, the singer who flew to Bahrain along with the troupe, was also felicitated on the occasion by the distinguished dignitaries on stage.

Amarnath Rai came out on stage to perform his favourite Tulu number, Mokeda Singari, followed by a scintillatic duo filmatic dance performance from local artistes, Ruth and Deepthi to the tune of  “Gajrare, Gajrae, Gajrare” that enthralled the audience to call for shouts of “once more”

The many times State Award Winning, Baikampady Yuvathi Mandala, displayed their folklore talents by giving three classical performances on stage with their six dancers, two cimbalist singers and two drummers with three classic item dances that depicted Kudla village drama plays and included the “Kadala Parba” and a tricolour rope-twisting patriotic dance specially choreographed for the occasion.

The highlight of the evening was the tiger-colorfully painted Tiger dance artistes under Bajlikere Kamalaksha that rocked the Indian Club grounds with their unique tiger dance numbers, displaying their tiger-dance talents and dance concepts with  vivid acrobatics and antics seen at large during the Dassera festival period .     They were on stage and on the grounds a number of times leaving every single Mangalorean enthusiast in awe, some of them demanding a private dance audience and still other garlanding the artistes with garlands knitted with cash generously donated to them by well-wishers.  

Anand Lobo, buoyed by the Kudla paraphernalia, compered the whole program to precision and also sang the famous Masala number, much to the thrill of his Mangalorean fans.    In his Vote of Thanks, Lobo thanked all his Mangalorean friends for the help, involvement and support given to the successful staging of all the events conducted during the four days of the second  Kudlotsava 2008 held in Bahrain.   

A memorable event, it was all along filled with fun and frolic bringing back to fresh memory the nostalgic Kudla culture laced with a sporting touch and unique only to the Kudla region.

Earlier Report:

Bahrain, Feb 23: On the final day of the sporting events of Kudlotsava 2008, the throwball tournament progressed till late evening with the sporting Ladies showing no signs of fatigue despite the rigours of the elimination round matches.     

The tug-of-war competition that was taking place simultaneously at one end of the Indian Club premises, was a delight to watch and brought in many teams to the fray. Towing the rope line, the muscular men with a firm foothold on the ground were encouraged by the ladies to pull the heavy rope on either side. “Heave ho!   Heave ho!  Heave ho!” was the cry in the local dialect as the onlookers cheered the team members as if to add more might to their pull. With the stronger team pulling the ropes to glory, the losing team let loose the ropes falling one over the other like a pack of cards.   

In the throwball tournament, Bunts Bahrain team captained by Asthika Shetty and the Kannada Sangha team captained by Chandrakala reached the finals. Both the team members displayed good catching and throwing skills and were neck-and-neck securing points for their respective team. But at the end it was Bunts Bahrain that prevailed over team Kannada Sangha. The latter despite a brave effort had to satisfy for the second spot.

In the tug-of-war event, the mighty of the mightiest teams who reached the finals were from Ramee Hotel and Bunts Bahrain.   In a hard-fought finals, Ramee Hotel team emerged winners.

It was a fun-day sports outing and all the competitors and spectators had a field day at the Indian Club grounds.    Thanks to the sporting efforts of organizers Anand Lobo, Girish Iddya and D Ramesh who saw to it that everything went on smoothly for both the tournaments on the final day.  

In a brisk-crisp ceremony after the tournaments, the jubilant winners and runners-up were given their trophies.     All eyes are now set on another mega Kudlotsava event which is slated to take place in early in 2009.

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