Media Release
Oman, May 13: It was a memorable and a full day's event for the Billawa community at The Grand Hall, Al Falaj Hotel, Muscat. The family get-together was held in the morning of April 29 and was followed by the staging of the famous Tulu comedy drama 'Nank Matherla Bodu' which was open to all the Tulu speaking community members in the evening the same day.
The morning session began with the gathering of a huge number of Billawas and their families at the Grand Hall, Al Falaj Hotel, Muscat. The entrance to the hall was beautifully decorated by Vishwanath and his team with banana stems, coconut bunches, buntings and flowers specially flown in from Mangaluru.
The reception committee greeted all the members in the traditional way, being taken care of by Madhu Suvarna and his team. Exclusive Mangalurean breakfast was served to all the members. The fantastic stage set-up was carried out by Ashok Suvarna and his team from NPA Events.
The day began with 'lighting of the lamp' by the president and managing committee members. Inaugurating the function, the president, S K Poojary extended a warm welcome to all the members and their families. He also warmly welcomed Rajkumar, president of Bahrain Billawas, who was the guest of honour.
President, Ashok Suvarna and vice president Umesh Bantwal, in their keynote address commended Oman Billawas on the various activities and initiatives taken up in Oman as well as in India, while requesting all the members for better participation. Kushal Bangera, general secretary, then presented the annual report of activities undertaken during the previous year.
Sujith Anchan, Dy sports secretary, detailed the various sports activities conducted during the past year and also informed the gathering about proposed forthcoming sports activities. Suhan, coordinator for the educational assistance activities, then appraised the members present about the good work done by Oman Billawas in helping children from Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts of Mangaluru, in furthering their education, by providing scholarships to 50 needy students during the year 2015-16.
The cultural activities commenced with a beautiful welcome dance by Shreya Bangera, which was choreographed by Deepak Roy. The tiny tots from Muscat consisting of Likhita S Kotian, Anvith Sudhakar Poojary, Swasti Uppoor, Apoorvi Vijay Kodialbail, Diya Subhakar, Prisha Sudhir, Tanvi C S Poojary, Ashmith Shridhar Amin, Ishaan Boloor, Sannvi Nitin Kumar, Mahi Manohar Salian, Tvisha Prashant Kajekar, Divit Guru Prasad, Naisha Sanil, Sanabi Ail, Nishanth Salian, Dhyan R Poojary, Pavan Nitin Kumar and Diya Guru Prasad then presented a nice dance drama - 'Unity in Diversity', depicting dances of various Indian states which were choreographed by Suvi Bangara.
This was followed by a 'Fusion dance' by the ladies – Pramila Kotian, Reema Kaushik, Merlyn Manohar, Shubha Sanil, Chandini Sudhir, Amitha Sridhar, Swetha Rathish, Shruthi Shreyas, Esha Kotian, Rija Kotian and Tejaswi Ramesh - who danced to a few melodious Hindi film numbers. This dance was choreographed by Pramila Kotian and Esha Kotian. Next, the 'Mastani Cute Kids' from Sohar consisting of Vihan Suvarna, Dritik Poojary, Anchal Anil, Trisha Anchan and Niharika Poojary came up with a cute performance to a mix of Hindi film songs, which were choreographed by Anil Suvarna and Gokul Poojary. The 'Muscat teens' – Tanisha Boloor, Gauri Poojary, Jhanvi Kotian, Parachi Sandeep and Spoorthi Upoor, then gave a lively performance to the tune of peppy Bollywood numbers. This dance was choreographed by Tanisha Boloor.
A 'Tulu Folk and Fusion dance', was put up by Prema Umesh, Prafulla Shanker, Shobha Dayanand, Surekha Sudesh, Prathiksha Salian, Deekshitha Poojary, Shridhar Amin, Dayanand Palan, Karthik Kunder, Sudesh Karkera, Charan Amin, Sharan Umesh and Swapnil Anchan. This folk dance showcased the rich culture and heritage of Tulunadu, which was choreographed by Prathiksha Salian and Charan Amin. Next, depicting the local Arabian culture, Anil and his wife, Harish and his wife, Nitin and his wife from Sohar performed an 'Arabian Couple dance', which was also choreographed by Anil Suvarna and Gokul Poojary and was enjoyed by the audience. Tanisha Boloor then gave a beautiful solo performance to a new Bollywood number, which had the crowd swaying to the music. A solo dance performance by Gokul Poojary of Sohar to some jazzy English songs was next to follow.
The finale to the morning session was another couple dance to a popular Tulu song 'Mattuda Ponne', which was choreographed by Reema Kaushik and beautifully performed by Kaushik Attavar, Manohar Salian and his wife, Shreyas Poojary and his wife, Chandrakanth Kotian and his wife, Shridhar Amin and his wife.
The entire programme was conducted beautifully by the Master of Ceremonies Suchethna Anchan, with the able support and coordination of Neelkamal Anchan, Suvi Bangara, Kavitha Sanil, Manuja Suhan, Madhuri Ratan and Prapulla Shankar.
Others who lent their mite to the success of the programme included Mahesh Salian, Raj Sanil, Shankar Uppoor, Manohar Salian, Shivprakash, A J Sanil, Sudhir N K, Sujith Kumar, Sudhir Kumar and Harish. Gangadhar Poojary and his team of volunteers were omnipresent throughout the day in all the activities ensuring smooth flow of events.
Rajkumar - the guest of honor was presented with a memento by S K Poojary - president and Ashok Suvarna - president.
Dr Anchan C K - vice president of Oman Billawas delivered the vote of thanks, by thanking all the sponsors for their generous contribution. He also thanked families attending the function for their support in coming forward and keeping the unity of the community. A special note of thanks was given to the Sohar members for their continued support and participation.
He extended his vote of thanks to the president of Oman Billawas and all the respectable committee members, who have been serving relentlessly. He invited them to the stage and expressed gratitude for their selfless service towards the growth of Oman Billawas.
The family get-together concluded on a memorable note, followed by a sumptuous spread of lunch which was taken care of by Chandrakant Kotian, K N Anchan and team.
Members geared up for the evening Tulu comedy drama 'Nank Matherla Bodu', which was managed by NPA events. The grand stage for the drama was magnificently set up which mesmerized the audience.
Dr Satish Nambiar - chairman of Indian Social Club was the guest of honor and there were other key dignitaries present from other Tulu speaking communities. The evening commenced with the vice president of Oman Billawas, Dr Anchan C K felicitated by Dr Sathish Nambiar and the president, vice president and core committee members of Oman Billawas, for his unparalleled achievements, both personally and professionally, and also his unflinching contribution to the Billawa Community over the years.
The Tulu Drama was a great success, with all the audience being enthralled by scintillating performances by the artists. As a token of appreciation, all the artists and the director Kishore D Shetty were presented with mementos by S K Poojary and Ashok Suvarna.
It was a grand day of success for Oman Billawas.