Doha: Awards, talents galore at eventful ATS Annual Day
Report: Gladson D’Almeida
Pics: Sunil Crasto
Daijiworld News Network - Doha
Doha, Mar 24: If you are in Qatar, then the annual day celebrations of ATS (Advanced Technical Services) should be one of the priorities in your calendar. It is just not an in-house celebration meant for ATS family but to all cultural enthusiasts and all who believe and practice enculturation. It is not just an occasion to bask in glory at the stupendous success that ATS has attained over the years but is also an effective medium that brings together and bonds the entire ATS family in celebrating their unity, creativity and innovation. It is one-of-its-kind day and celebration wherein talents galore, awards showered aplenty leave the cordial bonds strengthened and renewed. And this has been made possible every year by one single inspiring personality Ravi Shetty known affectionately as ‘Ravianna’, whose popularity, marketed more by deeds than words, itself is one of the hallmarks of ATS. He’s a true leader who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.
The 6th Annual Day of ATS celebrated on Friday March 22 was no way different than its earlier celebrations. The audience was left spellbound by sterling performances by the visiting musicians from Mangalore and ATS’ staff. The roaring applause reverberating within the four walls of the Al Jazeera Academy auditorium never ceased even as the midnight approached.
The much-awaited annual event began with the prayer song by Soumya Narayan, the melody queen who arrived in Doha all the way from Mangalore. It was just the perfect beginning to a truly fun-filled evening. As the supremely gifted, abundantly eloquent gorgeous compere Milan Arun was introduced and then escorted to the stage by Rachana Shetty, the audience broke in thunderous applause. Milan Arun is a bundle of talents which have made her one of the most sought-after comperes, choreographers and singers not only among the expats from Karnataka but also among the entire India diaspora of Qatar. Her brisk witty compering coupled with spontaneity always creates a cheery atmosphere that escorts the audience to the end.
After the traditional welcome was accorded to the gathering in a unique way with a short glimpse of Tulunadu’s very own yakshagana by ATS’ staff, the annual day celebrations were formally inaugurated by lighting the lamp by Sarojini T Shetty (mother of Ravi Shetty), Sahilaja Rai, Nirmala Shetty, Chandravati, mother of Shrikanth, Jayanthi V Shetty and Sarvani Shetty who were escorted to the dais by Jyothi Ravi Shetty and Nirmal Kanth Handa.
As the evening wore on, spectacular performances by ATS staff provided ample entertainment to the gathering. A Nepali song that depicts the struggles of a Nepali expat, his aspirations to give a better and safer future to his family back home was followed by Kannada skit ‘Keliddu Sullagabahudu’. The song sequence of the yesteryear Kannada movie Rama-Laxmana which exhorts that one should not arrive at conclusions based just on what he/she sees or hears but should always think twice before jumping the guns was enacted beautifully by the multifaceted ATS staff, much to the appreciation of the audience. A Hindi skit that brought forth the reality back home that compels a person to travel abroad in search of the greener pastures and the Nepali remix dance were truly the highlights of the evening. A unique musical kabaddi match, Tulu skit Galipata and Kannada skit Prema Loka from the Ravichandran-Juhi Chawla blockbuster movie Prema Loka added flavour to the evening. The icing on the cake was surely the fusion dance by ATS staff to the tunes of various genres of English, Hindi and Kannada songs towards the end of the day.
But the ones who walked away with the cake and loudest applause of the evening were visiting singers Soumya Narayan and Jagraj Rai. As they belted out some scintillating Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Tulu numbers, the gathering stormed the dance floor in sheer appreciation of their melodious singing and stupendous talent. The evergreen number ‘Banalllu Neene’, popular dance numbers ‘Disco Dancer’, ‘Yeh Mera Dil’, ‘Disco Diwani’, ‘Radha on the dance floor’, cult songs ‘Kolaveri’, ‘Chalao na Naino se Baan’, Muqabala, Navaduva Nudiye Kannada Nudi had the audience asking for more even as the clocked ticked past 11 pm.
ATS has a unique way of thanking its staff. Every year a few staff are selected on merit and are awarded the best employee award. The award is the formal recognition of the commitment, loyalty and hardwork of the staff whose contribution has played a significant role in ATS scaling greater heights. The ‘Best Employee of the Year 2012-13’ was presented by ATS Managing Director Ravi Shetty and Babuti Khan (one of ATS’ first employees and the winner of first ‘Best Employee’ award in 2008) to Meherlal Bhushan, Kemminje Dinesha, Sapadi Muttu, Jayakumar Pandey, Aarosh, Bhuvan Singh, Dinesh Tamang, Vinod Shetty, Harish Chandappa Moolya, Marimuttu, Manoharan, Prasan Pankajan, Krishna Shreshta and Sitaram Gimide.
Later addressing the gathering managing director Ravi Shetty congratulated the entire ATS family and sought their cooperation in marching ahead meeting the expectations of their clients and well-wishers. He stressed on the importance of committed staff and equally dedicated management. ‘Money is a wonderful by-product but a very bad point to focus on as there is only a little fine line between expectation and greed. ATS is not here to be just one of the bests but to be above the rest. Hence never over estimate your problems and under estimate your abilities. Let’s face the challenges as one team and march ahead with vigour and enthusiasm,” were his words of wisdom and advice to ATS family.
The winners of various sports events were honoured by Pradeep Handa, the chief executive director of ATS. Along with this the formidable and well-known Kabaddi team of ATS which has been bagging awards and topping the tournaments at will too was honoured for their special achievement of winning trophy at the tournament conducted by Indian Cultural Centre on the occasion of Qatar Sports Day recently.
Ravi Shetty is not only popular employer but also a respected and well-known philanthropist and leader, an active member of various community forums of Qatar. His charisma which is enriched by his humbleness enabled him in developing close bonds with a lot of people who constantly support and encourage all his endeavours. On his part Ravianna too recognizes the role his well-wishers and friends have played in building ATS. As always he has humble yet unique ways to thank his friends and well-wishers. It was evident as he felicitated compere of the evening Milan Arun, visiting artists Jagraj Rai and Soumya Narayan, his long-time associate and well-wisher Vasudeva Prabhu who had arrived all the way from India, community activist Iqbal Manna, Suresh Bhat who conducts ayudha pooja at ATS every year, Gladson D’Almeida of Daijiworld Qatar and Dr Kudri.
It was an evening wherein everyone had a reason to cheer. Plenty of sport prizes were awarded to the winners of raffle draws. While those on the stage hogged the limelight, ATS did not forget to recognize the contribution of stage set-up and technical support team and honoured them too.
Prominent community leaders such as Chidananda Nayak, the GM of Pallonji Qatar, V Mannangi, president of Karnataka Sangha Qatar, Seetharama Shetty, president of Tulu Koota Qatar and other committee members, Diwakar Poojary, president of Qatar Billavas, Ramachandra Shetty, member of ICBF and former president of Tulu Koota Qatar, Arun Kumar, former president of Karnataka Sangha Qatar, past president- South Kanara Muslim Welfare Association - SKMWA Qatar, Jaya Shetty, senior community member and well-wisher of ATS, Prakash Ajila, vice-president of Bunts Qatar and committee members, Ram Mohan Rai, popular Toast Master were also present on the occasion.
Prithesh Amin and Anthony conducted the prize distribution section while Kiran Poonja efficiently carried out the felicitation programme. Anthony Sojon proposed the vote of thanks as the eventful evening came to an end with a sumptuous family agape.