Kuwait: QAKCA Celebrates Monti Fest in Homely Atmosphere
Report & Pics by Wilson Saldanha, Shirthady/Kuwait
Daijiworld Media Network – Kuwait (SP)
Kuwait, Sept 11: Mangalorean community believes in making the guests ‘feel at home’. ‘Making them feel like in homeland’, perhaps, suits better while describing the Monti Fest celebrations organized by Queen of Arabia Konkani Community of Ahmadi (QAKCA) at Ahmadi on September 10, 2010. It was a double celebration for those who have settled down in Kuwait, as the festivities coincided with the national feast of Islamic countries ‘Eid Al Fitr’.
QAKCA had made elaborate preparations to bring to Kuwait the flavour of Mangalorean tradition of celebrating Monti Fest, the harvest festival, by holding nine-day novenas dedicated to Infant Mary of Our Lady of Arabia Church, Ahmadi, from September 1 to 9, from 5 pm onwards.
Hundreds of families from all the parishes of Kuwait attended the Konkani solemn Eucharistic celebrations at 5 pm every day, followed by novena to Infant Mary and traditional showering of flowers. The number of attendants was huge, as these days fell in the holy month of Ramadan, which has short working days in Kuwait.
The final celebration was held on September 10 with the celebration of Konkani mass at 11 am, offered by the visiting priest, Fr Alban D’Souza, Fr Lionel and Fr John Harry D’Souza. Flowers were offered and showered by a record number of kids in a very traditional way. Mangalore’s harvest of paddy grains and Kuwait’s harvest of dates were blessed during the mass and distributed to the gathering. The children were overwhelmed at the sight of sugarcane, which is rarely seen here, and which brought a sense of completeness of the feast.
After the mass, a small felicitation and entertainment programme was arranged for which, Bishop Camillo Ballin was the chief guest, along with Fr Andrew, Fr Alban D’Souza, Fr Lionel and Fr John Harry. The programme started with a prayer song followed by rib-tickling jokes rendered by UMK, which also had a good message to the general public. Prescilla Pereira and family were honored for their unselfish service to the parish. Prizes were distributed to the winners of Mother Mary Hymn Singing Competition. Clara Fernandes read out the report of QAKCA. Bishop Camillo Ballin extended his best wishes to the gathering with his short speech. Fr Harry thanked everyone who lent their support for the success of the celebrations. The programme was compered by Stephen Sequeira (Shaan Bondel) and Prescilla Pereira. A traditional Mangalorean vegetarian lunch, prepared by Royal Plaza Caterers (Spynns), was served to the gathering, which added a complete, real Mangalorean flavour to the celebrations.
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