by Dr. Samskrati Ganesh Shenoy

Sohar, Nov 21: Come Diwali and all the Konkani speaking ladies in Sohar are abuzz with preparations for the annual Diwali get together. The Amchigeles (Konkani speaking community of the South and North Kanara Districts of Karnataka) of Sohar got together in Falaj Al Qabail to celebrate for the third time in a row, the festival of lights – to rekindle the joy of togetherness and harmony.

Nearly 50 konkani speaking families from in and Sohar came together to share happiness on this occasion. The mouth watering homemade badam milk was served as a welcome drink, to bring everyone near the centre stage!

Bright and colourful diyas adorned the room giving the venue a festive look. The senior members of the community Smt. Sunanda Shenoy, Smt. Kavitha Puranik and others lit the traditional lamp to mark the beginning of the celebration.

With the entry of a few new members of the community in Sohar, a formal introduction of all the members assembled was made on the occasion. This was followed by a round of bhajans in Konkani, Kannada, and Marathi sung by the all the ladies and gents gathered.

The entertaining games soon filled the hall with chattering of children and the adults as they got busy with the various games. The children enjoyed their games as much as the ladies with the game of musical chair. The gents had a tough time guessing the exact number of coins in the bag.

Soon it was time for the members to shift to the most awaited agenda of the day – the elaborate spread of typical amchigele cuisine. The plantain leaves were ready to be spread in the dining hall to have a traditional environment friendly lunch. The delicacy of the day was khotto with coconut chutney and sambar. This is an all-time favourite of the amchigeles wherever they are! Freshly made cauliflower pickle, carrot kosumbari. , batate talasani, alvati, assorted pakodas of capsicum, cauliflower , Daali toya, mouth watering doodh pak, and the masala buttermilk were a gastronomic delight for all Sohar amchigeles.
 
A game of tambola marked the end of this gathering. This celebration aimed at bringing the community people together and also to create awareness about environment protection. In this regard initiative was taken to use plantain leaves to replace plastic/foam disposable plates, which received positive response from all the members. Dining on the plantain leaves also exposed the children to eat the traditional way.
 
Earlier, in the month of Shravan, all the families had got together to do a samoohik choodi pooja. This was a celebration of the ladies, by the ladies, for all the Konkani speaking families. More than 15 ladies came together and worshipped the Tulsi in a traditional way, thus giving a message to the younger generation about our culture and tradition. This was followed by another delightful ethnic lunch spread made by the members of the community.

In another occasion, some of the members of the Konkani speaking community participated in the annual gathering of Mangalore Balaga Sohar (an Association of Mangaloreans in Sohar) which was conducted during the Eid Al Adha holidays. The children enthusiastically took part in fancy dress competitions and some dance programs. Some of the ladies performed a group dance depicting the features of Karnataka. The gents also went on stage this time for the couple fashion show which was the highlight of the day!