Media Release

Kuwait, Oct 26: As the festival of lights 'Deepavali' is round the corner, Buntara Sangha Kuwait held its Deepavali celebration with great splendour on Friday October 21 at Indian Community School Senior Girls, Salmiya, under the leadership of President Rajesh Shetty.

Around 250 Bunts members participated enthusiastically in the day long programme and savored the manner in which the various competitions and cultural programme were organized by the cultural secretary, Sudharshan Shetty.

This year’s event was truly enchanting in every way. The morning’s programme included rangoli competition, lantern making and Adya competition. The air was filled with radiance. The beautiful décor of the venue by the PR team members, Diwali being the theme marked the occasion and created an ambience of festivity. The diyas and lanterns that formed the core of the theme throughout the venue, the aroma of flowers and Adya preparation by Bunt ladies participating in Adya competition, the vibrant and colorful lanterns and Rangoli prepared by the competitors, the beautifully dressed Bunt couples and children made the event look magical. The audience was mesmerized by the skills of the competitors.

The stage events began with the lighting of traditional Diya and a prayer song by Kushi Shetty and Harshi Shetty. President Rajesh Shetty, welcomed the audience and thanked the Bunts for their whole-hearted participation and attendance at the event. The inaugural dance for the day was rendered by Tanvi Shetty. This was followed by nearly two hours stage programme which was a combination of dance, solo songs, comedy skit, and pick and speak competition; Pili Vesha; and Quiz Q & A rounds. The Bunt performers for the day were Saanvi Shetty- Yakshagana Dance; Radha Kaisena Jale dance by Shravya Shetty; Gollara Golla song dance by Swasti Shetty, Jeshna Shetty, Dhananjay Shetty; Mukundaa Dance by Aarshi Shetty, Harshi Shetty, Krutharth Shetty, Swasthi Shetty, Surya Shetty, Tarush Shetty, Trashi Shetty, Tashvi Shetty and Tanvi Shetty. The Bunt singers were Devi Prasad Shetty and Dhananjay Shetty; comedy skit was by Namma Mahboula Da Jawaner, cute Pili Vesha dance was performed by the twins Sanidhya and Shlok Shetty. The programme was beautifully compered by Yadunath Alva.

The audience cheered and applauded each performance on stage. Lunch for the day was a traditional Diwali special menu served by Oriental Restaurant. The highlight of the afternoon programme was a Tulu Roopaka (allegory), play- 'Ponna Janma', written and directed by Sanath Shetty. The story of the play renders a peek into various life stages of a woman. It brought out every aspect of the performance from the artiste, to makeup, to direction and stage setup, as well as the beautiful narration that described the storyline.

The energy took on many forms in the evening, as colorful saris and traditional dress collided to Gharba music and Gharba dance led by Urvi Trehan and her team from Fitness With Urvi. The sound of rhythmic steps mingled with the cheerful shouts by the audience.

In the concluding session, general secretary Dinesh Shetty offered the vote of thanks to the participants, judges, and all the committee members and volunteers who worked hard to make the programme a grand success. The day's long event came to an end with the National Anthem.

Winners of the various competitions were:
Rangoli-
First prize Winners:
Preetha Somshekhar Rai
Somshekhar Rai
Shobha Shetty
Deepa Shetty
Sandhya Shetty

Second prize winners:
Saritha Chandrashekhar Shetty
Chandrashekhar Shetty
Shalini Manoj Shetty
Sanjana Raghavendra Shetty
Supreetha Vivek Shetty

Lantern making-
First prize winners:
Santhosh Rai
Sandesh Rai
Prashanth Alva
Ratan Rai
Amith Shetty

Second prize winners:
Sudeep R Shetty
Vishwanath Shetty Kateel
Shravya Shankar Shetty

Adya competition-
First prize winners:
Pooja Amar Alva

Second prize winners:
Akshatha Prabhakar Shetty
Kanchana Dinesh Shetty
Navitha Sunil Shetty

Best ethnic wear-
Best dressed male/female:
Deviprasad Shetty
Preetha Somshekhar Rai

Best dressed teen, male/Female:
Yash Yadunath Alva
Vidhi Harish Shetty

Best dressed juniors, male/female:
Naithik Yadunath Alva
Harshi Prakash Shetty