Dubai: Mogaveers UAE celebrate 5th anniversary with gala ceremony
Report: Shodhan Prasad
Daijiworld Media Network - Dubai
Pics: Floyd Kiran/Sujith Laynel
Dubai, Mar 30: Mogaveers UAE concluded a magnificent fifth anniversary celebration on Friday March 29 at Crown Plaza Hotel, Al Muteena, Deira, Dubai in a jam-packed auditorium.
The day-long event began at around 10 am with Dr G Shankar, president of G Shankar Family Trust, Ambalapady cutting the ribbon at the entrance of the venue and inaugurating the function.
Mogaveers UAE general secretary, Yadav Kotian welcomed the chief guests, guests of honour, community members and leaders of various other Mangalorean communities in UAE in his own style. He later handed over the stage to Shashidhar Suratkal who took over the later part of the programme as master of ceremony.
M K Lokesh, Ambassador of India to UAE presided over the event as chief guest, while Nadoja Dr G Shankar, president of G Shankar Family Trust, Ambalpady, Udupi was the guest of honour along with Sanjeeva K Salian, vice-president of Mogaveera Vyavasthapaka Mandali, Mumbai, Kirthiraj K Salian, chairman of Mogaveera Co-operative Bank, Mumbai, Suresh Kanchan, hotelier and president of Mogaveera Mahajana Seva Sangha, Bagwadi, Hobali, and C R Salian, founder president of Mogaveers UAE. The guests were welcomed on to the stage who lit the lamp auspiciously and blessed the event.
A welcome dance choreographed by Subhas with Vasanth, Deepak, Sachin, Shradha, Rohan and Subhas himself was presented in the form of prayer. After this was 'Shuklambaradharam' a Bharathanatyam presentation by Hetal, Manvi, Tanvi, Naisha,Yuktha and Harsha beautifully choreographed by Sandesh Jhanvi.
Riya presented a solo dance titled 'Malli Malli' choreographed by Prasanna Poojary of Mudra Dance Institute. 'Kadala Parba' was prsented next by Deepak and group comprising Nalini, Yogita, Ranjitha, Veena and Subhas who also did the choreography for this community dance.
'Bollywood Fashion', a dance number by children's group comprising Shradha, Advaith, Aditya, Suraksha and Danish, choreographed by Prasanna Poojary of Mudra was also performed. He also choreographed the next filmy dance titled 'Bhoom Bhoom' with Simran,Pareekshita, Laveena, Soumya and Shreya, a couple dance by the energetic young couple Nalini and Deepak, a filmy dance by Anmol, Tushar, Pratam, Sahil and Rohan, 'Disco Dewane' with Jathin and Yuktha, and patriotic dance with Anmol, Tushar and Pratam.
'Teru' was a folk dance presented by Shailaja, Supriya, Chaya, Shashi, Asha and Anita colourfully choreographed by Supriya Kanchan, followed by a mythological dance by Mudra Dance Institute, Karama very well presented by the members.
Mogaveers UAE, the organisation that started mass blood donation campaign in UAE is well known not only in the community circles of Karnataka, India but also in the Blood Donation Centre of Dubai for their support in this campaign. Vice president of Mogaveers UAE, Balakrishna Salian or 'Bala' as he is fondly known in the Blood Donation Centre is the stalwart of this campaign and was recently honoured by the Al Ameen Service, UAE for his active role.
Balakrishna M Salian has conducted more than 45 camps in the last five years and Mogaveers UAE was appreciated for getting together a large number (167) of blood donors for a noble cause, especially on the UAE National Day.
Dr Isam of Blood Donation Centre who attended the day's function gave an important educative speech on Thalassemia in UAE, which was really informative. He was honoured with a memento and a bouquet by Mogaveers. Later, Balakrishna M Salian and family were felicitated with a shawl, flower bouquet and memento for his noble deeds and humanitarian services in the UAE.
During the formal stage programme, president Lokesh V Puthran welcomed and introduced the guests on the dais in his own imitable style. Puthran in his speech covered some of the aspects of good living and stressed on the importance of yoga, spirituality and humanity for every one which will produce a complete real human being in everybody.
Lokesh in his speech praised the Mangalorean ladies and said that they are not only beautiful but intelligent too. A Kannadiga himself, he shared some of his lighter moments while in Karnataka wherein he was told that Mysore University lost toppers to Mangalore University after the latter was launched. He added that Mangaloreans are great people in terms of hospitality, banking, finance and cultural fields. He also praised the Mogaveers in their service to community specially well-known in blood donations, hospitality, medical and educational fields.
He congratulated Mogaveers on completing five years and was felicitated with shawl, flower and memento by senior Mogaveers.
Other guests of honour spoke well of the community and enlightened fellow community members on the good deeds being carried on in their day-to-day community services rendered by fellow community organizations in India and abroad. Various Mogaveers organizations and institutions were mentioned in their speech including Mogaveers Vyavasthapaka Mandali, Mumbai which has been in existence and serving the community since pre-Indian Independence era. All the guests of honour were felicitated with shawl, flowers and memento as a token of remembrance.
A social message titled 'Vonji Ponnu' was beautifully presented by Shailaja Kotian and group, scripted and recorded by Shodhan Prasad along with Jathin and Shailaja. This touching narration and performance covering subjects like gender equality, dowry death and female foeticide brought in tears in many eyes among the audience. They were called upon on the stage and honoured for presenting the important and relevant social message.
Lunch break was announced and a sumptuous buffet lunch was arranged by Mogaveers wherein the audience savored the delicious lunch while listening to karaoke songs rendered by Deepak and Harish Sherigar.
The afternoon session started with a folk dance by Riya and Sahil, choreographed by Sheethal Anup. This was followed by 'Theme Dance' by Parikshitha, Simran, Laveena, Soumya, Shreya and Anmol, choreographed by Prasanna Poojary of Mudra Dance Institute.
Comedy skit directed by Sunil Chitrapura, himself a great actor who has performed in many plays with the very famous 'Cha Parka Kalavideru' Team, Mangalore, delighted the audience. The skit emphasizing the situation of unemployed youths of the generation had Subhas, Ravi Puthran, Vasanth, Shailaja, Ranjitha, Kishore and Sunil portraying the subjects with elan. The skit, which had a generous dose of humour too, was highly appreciated by the audience.
'Kadala Siri' a rich and appealing souvenir of Mogaveers was released during the event in a traditional way with the sound of drums and trumphets brought on to the stage for the release ceremony. The guests on the stage did the honours by releasing the souvenir and distributing the copies to the audience. The main trio involved in the attractively designed souvenir - Divya Suratkal, Govardan Salian and Kishore Kumar Bangera - were honoured for their efforts in bringing out this souvenir.
In between the programme, leaders of various fellow organizations were honoured on the stage with flowers. The sponsors of the event and media representatives were also called on to the stage and honoured.
A hip hop dance by Mudra Dance Institute boys' group which showed their strength and command over the dance style was appreciated by the audience. They were all honoured on the stage with gift hampers. Another all-female filmy dance choreographed by Prasanna and performed by Nalini, Yogita, Chaya, Rekha, Geetha and Simran was also received with applause. Sandhesh Jhanvi's choreography for another filmy dance with Hetal, Manvi, Tanvi and group was remarkable. 'Paravasha' by couple Nalini and Deepak titled 'Tapori Dance' was another smooth presentation.
Ladies group dance titled 'In Ankhon ki Masti' with Shailaja, Supriya, Sashi, Chaya and Anitha was mesmerizing, beautifully choreographed by Supriya Kanchan and well applauded. 'Bollywood Mix' by members of Mudra Dance Institute followed. Raj Uppur, the young energetic owner of the Institute who presented and supported Mogaveers in their celebrations, was honoured. He promised many more presentations in the future.
One of the senior members of Mogaveers UAE, Harish Amin was felicitated along with his family with shawl, flowers and momento by president Lokesh Puthran for his valuable and sincere service in the committee for long years.
In his humorous speech, he shared his experience among his fellow community members. He mentioned about his daughter Harsha who he said arrived as a special present in their family and brought them laurels. Later his daughter presented a beautiful speech remembering her association and experience with the Sangha.
One of the highlights of the day was 'Veeraghase' a vibrant traditional folk dance performed Subhas, Girish, Lohit, Venu, Deepak, Jagdish and Sachin vibrantly choreographed by Subhas in its true form. A filmy dance by Jyothi followed. A brilliant dance performance by Prajwal Ullal, imitating around 26 Hindi/Kannada/Tamil heroes non-stop in various song sequences was greatly applauded by the audience. He was honoured and wished the best by president Lokesh Puthran.
The concluding part of the day-long event took the audience to the Mangalore Dasara celebrations with the lively 'Marnami Dance' performed by Subhas, Ravi Puthran, Vasanth, Chandrakant, Kishore and many others with the able choreography of Sunil Chitrapura. Starting with 'Anarkali and Joker' it went on to 'Siddhi', 'Masks', 'Yakshagana' and 'Pili Vesha', all dancing to the tunes of the original Marnami music beats and entertaining the crowd, with 'Pilis' picking up money in their own gymnastic style. A small 'Pili' was the most appreciated in the group for his remarkable performance.
Keeping up the same energy flow all the members of Mogaveers UAE came on to the stage and started dancing. The female members outshined their male counterparts, energetically dancing to the foot-tapping music played by the DJ Prasad Rai. President Lokesh V Puthran encouraged everybody to dance and he himself danced too.
The day-long event concluded with raffle draw, vote of thanks and with singing of the Indian National Anthem 'Jana Gana Mana' with all due respect.