Dubai : Loving Farewell to Daijiworld's Sujay Bendore
Report By Shodhan Prasad / Pics by Ramcy Fernandes
Daijiworld Media Network—(CN)
Dubai, Feb 1 : Sujay Bendore, Daijiworld.com’s honorary correspondent in Dubai for the past seven years, was given a farewell at Shezan Restaurant recently.
Sujay, who captured the hearts of thousands of readers worldwide through his lens, is set to leave for his hometown Mangalore after spending nearly 21 years in the UAE.
The event organized by Daijiworld.com was attended by Daijiworld representatives from all over the UAE as well as guest Frank D’Souza of Shezan Restaurant and visiting guest and Daijiworld well-wisher Vivek Sequiera, of Vivek Studio, Mangalore.
Herman Lewis and Nisha Lewis of Radio Spice were also present.
Walter Nandalike, editor-in-chief of Daijiworld, thanked Sujay for his service and welcomed him to the Daijiworld team in Mangalore.
Dayan D’Souza, Shodhan Prasad, and Ganesh Rai also spoke of the dedicated service of Sujay.
On behalf of Daijiworld, Frank D’Souza presented a memento to Sujay and Smitha Bendore.
Billawas Dubai and Northern Emirates, Karnataka Sangha Sharjah, Gulf Kannadiga.com, Radio Spice 105.4 FM, Dhwani Pratistana, Vishwakarma Seva Sangha, UAE , Beary Cultural Forum, and others also hosted felicitation and farewell programmes for his community service.
For Daijiworld readers, Sujay’s pictures along with the news will always be a record of his artistic photography preserved for posterity.
It was in 1989 that Sujay arrived in Dubai from Mangalore to join Khan Saheb Civil Engineering as a supervisor and was promoted to assistant manager in their sister company Al Daan Facility Management. But work was not all for Sujay who was always inclined to serve the community.
He started developing his relationship with various communities of Karnataka in the field of media to cover the ongoing activities of these associations and post the news on Daijiworld without any personal gain.
The comments and appreciation in response to his published reports and photos gave him immense pleasure. This boosted him and encouraged him to enhance his activities in the field of media further.
Be it a one-day programme or more than that, Sujay tirelessly dedicates himself to it whole-heartedly with his smiling face and sits at home late night to provide the viewers with details of the events quickly the very next day with all the photos uploaded.
This made it a routine for all readers to open the website and look for their photos and news first thing in the morning before having breakfast. The result of Sujay’s hard work is reflected in the comments of appreciation on the website by readers.
Sujay was also involved with collecting funds for the upliftment of mosques, churches, and temples in various part of Karnataka where his efforts were commendable.
Also, during last year’s Haj programme, he took the initiative to collect funds for Arshad Koppa’s parents to go on Haj which they were finding difficult financially. This was commended recently during a meet. These are some of his noble deeds and there are so many more than can be counted.
The one person who has always seen all his effort and provided support always is his loving and caring wife Smitha, who at all times encouraged him with her smiling face and soft words.
She is the pretty lady behind Sujay’s success and one must agree that very few lucky men would get a life partner who lets them work for others leaving behind their day to day home life.
Recognition:
In the year 2005, when Ganesh Rai was president of the Karnataka Sangha, Sharjah, Sujay was awarded and felicitated during their annual function for his selfless work towards the community.
In 2009, Sarvotham Shetty, president, Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha, during the Karnataka Rajyotsava Celebration in Abu Dhabi had Sujay and Smitha felicitated by Padmashree Dr B R Shetty for his dedicated service to the community.
In 2009, Karnataka Sangha, Dubai, under the leadership of its president C R Shetty, got Sujay felicitated by Indian Parliamentarian and BJP’s Karnataka state president Sadananda Gowda during the World Kannada Convention in Dubai.
In 2009, Mohan Attavar, president, Billawas Dubai and Northern Emirates, during their annual 12th anniversary celebration, felicitated Sujay and Smitha in front of a huge crowd for his dedicated service to the community.
In 2009, Sujay and his wife were felicitated by Mangalore Konkans during their annual function.
Sujay is one of the few people whose good deeds and selfless service to the community are being recognized and proof of this are the farewell programmes held in his honour.