Mangalore: Colorful fireworks illuminate Eden’s “Diwali Dhoom” Nite
By Nina Rai - Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Mangalore, Nov 8: The 13th Annual “Diwali Dhoom” event was celebrated in a grand manner at the posh Eden Club grounds located in the city at Nanthoor, by its members as part of their annual Deepavali celebrations, here on Saturday, November 8.
As has been the regular practice over the years, the show began at 8 pm in the evening, with the traditional lighting of the lamp in front of Lord Ganesha’s idol by the Eden Club Trustees and Diwali Committee Members B Satish Pai, Zubeida Kunil, Varalaxmi Malli, Veena Shetty (the convener), Manish Jalan, Sunil Kumar Jalan and Rajesh Baldev.
The function kick started with an invocation and a brief introductory speech by the MC’s Sriya Jain and Karan Shetty on the importance of Diwali and the objective behind organizing this colorful event. According to them, Diwali is a festival which ushers in a new era of peace, abundance and prosperity. A time for sharing and caring, a time for bonding with family and friends alike, a time to celebrate and rejoice in the spirit of Diwali. With this end in view this event has been organized so that all can participate and enjoy themselves, they emphasized.
According to some committee members the main motto behind organizing this gala event was to bring about a sense of unity amongst all communities. In-fact they were proud of the fact that their club comprised of members from different religions and the various events were enjoyed by all irrespective of their religion, caste or creed. Explaining the rationale behind the Eden Club members celebrating the event after Deepavali festival ends, they said that during the actual festival people are too busy in their own homes conducting poojas and other religious ceremonies. Hence by keeping it later especially on the first Saturday of the month, they were giving an opportunity to all communities as well as the young and old to come together and celebrate the festival of lights in a unique manner, thereby fostering a sense of brotherhood amongst all.
More than thousand two hundred strong elite crowd, comprising of children, youngsters, middle aged and older members and their guests dressed in bold backless and designer dresses, ethnic party wear, ‘chanya and ‘gagra cholis’ (traditional Gujarati dress) mingled with each other and enjoyed the fabulous event. The entire venue was brilliantly lit up with hundreds of star lights and ‘Khandils’ (paper lamps). The participants in the course of the event witnessed a glittering display of electronic crackers in the sky.
Also during the event, the Eden “Deepavali’ committee members organized spot game shows for the children and adults. To keep the participants enthralled there were wide variety of songs belted out by an enterprising live band led by Srikanth. Especially during the latter part of the event, the pulsating music kept the crowds on their feet, who danced unabashedly to the beat of ‘dandiya’, ‘garba’, bhangra, Baila and pop music. Like last year, this year too face painting, Nair art and nail tattooing were the unique features at the ‘Blue Lagoon’ corner of the function.