By Joe Andrade
Bahrain, Dec 2: The fresh cool wind that blew on the horizon, heralding the advent of winter on the evening of November 12, added an aura of elegance in and around Manama’s Delmon Hotel Poolside ambience that was brightly lit with a stage decorated with balloons and buntings for the 43rd annual day of Karnataka Social Club (KSC).
The program took off at 8.45 pm. Over 300 members of the club along with their families, friends and well-wishers spent a memorable evening organized by the KSC executive committee under the leadership of its president Sydney Correa. The choc-o-bloc out-door annual get-together that rolled on for nearly four hours with fun and fellowship among with the KSC faculty, brought to the fore on and off stage dance, wine and dine, capably compered by the wizardry of the club’s entertainment maestro, Rajesh Prabhu.
The program began with DJ Bosco spinning the music discs to the beat of scintillating music and the entertainment secretary Rajesh welcoming the gathering, motivating the couples to put their first step forward in a half-hour novelty session that was rightly termed 'First Steps'. Four lucky couples walked away with lucky novelty prizes for their nimble efforts on the floor.
The executive committee members got together on stage for the traditional cutting of the annual day cake to the warm applause of the crowd and DJ Bosco in the background, spinning the musical beats. The president Sydney Correa, in his address to the audience brought to the fore nostalgic memories of the club’s yesteryears when as a young lad in Bahrain, he remembered attending the club’s annual get-togethers in the 1960’s with his father when the club was then known by the name of Mangalore Sports Club. Little did he think that he would one day lead this organization and he sincerely thanked the members for having stuck to the annual tradition of organizing the annual day program with its flag still flying high year after year. The president encouraged and urged the members and their families to come forward and utilize the various facilities for indoor sports and other field activities regularly organized by the club to their full capacity. He was indedbted to all for the wonderful support received from the executive committee members and the general members of the club.
The club’s general secretary, Gilbert Sequeira delivered the vote of thanks, with a brief report of the club's activities and thanked all the members and contributors for their unstinted encouragement and support in the continued smooth functioning of the club, particularly the club’s ladies wing members always ready to assist in all the weekend programs and the annual day club competitions. He particularly thanked all the contributors of the annual day program acknowledging their support and guidance at all times.
The stage was then set for a cultural dance program. Five groups comprising of members and their children, performed on stage with their various dance renditions that brought forth appreciation by way of rapturous applause.
The first dance was a filmy Bollywood masala choreographed by Riyanna D’Souza and performed vibrantly by Hencil, Annika, Ashlin, Riyanna, Diya, Astrelle, Rynal, Kevin, Orville, Giles and Bryan. The second dance number was a south-Indian filmy fusion choreorgraphed by Ajay and Sonia with participants Vinay, Ajay, Roshan, Sonia, Laren, Natasha and Tina.
The third dance session choreographed by Stephanie Alva was from little children, Seanna, Clarissa, Delisha, Reeva, Sherlyn, Ruth, Nathan, Shaun and Roville. The fourth item number was 'Koli dance' folk-filmy mix choreographed by Jospi and performed by Adrina, Anula, Erwin, Shaniya, Judy and Jospi. The last Bollywood dance rendition was choreographed by Lauren Sequeira and performed by Vian, Lester, Steve, Rolwyn, Morwin, Reevan, Hadley, Joel, Sujal, Ansel, Sweeta, Ayona, Echelle, Jessica, Susan, Nicole, Nikita, Larina, Alvita and Michelle.
This was followed by a novelty dance session for the adults with DJ Bosco spinning the discs to a packed dance floor with even more vibrancy! The little children then had an opportunity to let themselves dance to the music as Rajesh too invited and encouraged them picking up some lucky winners for special prizes. The elderly couples too appeared to enjoy dancing among their children in a typical family setting!
A sumptuous dinner catered specially for the program with traditional menu prepared by the culinary expertise and staff of the Delmon Hotel was delightfully relished to the full by all on this annual special occasion. DJ Bosco kept the dance floor rhythmic with good old jive numbers at dinner-time and this saw quite some young and not-so-young couples come forward and display their jiving prowess not letting any music go waste! Every byte of the annual day program music and moments were memorably spent among members and their families in the best of spirits, fun, camaraderie and fellowship that KSC is always known for.
An annual day program that was successfully accomplished by the executive committee, is now looking forward to leaping into the next leap year 2016 with even more gusto and fanfare. Special thanks should go to all those who worked on and behind the scenes for the success of the annual day program and in particular to all the contributors who come forward to support in one way or other.
Three cheers to KSC and all its members… hip-hip-hip hurray!