Karavali Parba-2016 brings Tulu Nadu culture alive in Saudi capital

Riyadh, May 20: Once again the culture and heritage of the coastal Karnataka came alive at the ‘Karavali Parba 2016’ organised by the Karavali Welfare Association Riyadh in the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last week.

The function was inaugurated by lighting lamp by the KWAR president Rajesh Kumar, vice president Santhosh Shetty, general secretary Nelson Dsouza, former-president Ramesh Shetty, cultural secretary PM Bhasker, treasurer Shashidhar Haridas, G K Sheikh, Iqbal Thanzimee and other prominent executive committee members.

In his inaugural speech, Rajesh Kumar stressed on the need for unity among all the members and said that he felt proud to head an organization which is the only one in the Kingdom with variety and diversity of cultures and communities but united for a cause. Nelson Dsouza read out KWARs achievements and listed the good works done by the organization for the last eight years.

Crowds were at their feet when kids performed a mesmerising ‘swagatha’ dance with KWAR theme. As a start of the cultural event Miss Megha Riya who had learnt her dancing steps from the famed Mani Group performed with an Indian traditional Kuchupudi dance.

Then there were other nonstop dance performances from KWAR group under the direction of Vishnu Sir and Brothers group which made the audience glued to their chairs.

Ashwini Prasanna Rao, KWAR’s nightingale enthralled the crowd with her melodious voice. Her Tulu duet song with PM Bhasker was a hit and another duo Rahmatullah Khan and Mrs Sarita enthralled crowd with Hindi classics.

The most attractive event was the Tulunadu favorite “Pili Vesha” with their standout performance made the audience dance on the beats.

PM Bhasker and team performed a wonderful comedy skit “Gulf TV – Korike”. Special performance such as Robotic dance and Solo Karate show by Muzaffer left the audience stunned. All the participants were awarded with certificates and medals and main sponsors were honored with mementos, shawls and flower bouquets. Co-sponsors were felicitated with mementoes and flower bouquet.

KWAR chose this occasion to honour and felicitate Mrs Soumya Stanley, one of the senior Kannada teachers of Karavali origin in Indian International School Riyadh. Dr. Vanishree Santhosh & Mrs. Latha Rajesh did the honor of felicitating.

Lucky draw was conducted on regular intervals sponsored by Air India, Jet Airways & Al-Kabeer. Air India Reservation Manager Kinsley Fernandes gave away the Air India Air tickets to the winners. There were 3 special prizes in the draw and the first prize LCD TV was won by lucky winner Jayaram Shetty of Kanoo Group. Other 2 prizes were won by Suresh Raj and Chethan Kaivar. Mr. Kundan Lal of Air India Gave away a Special Prize, a Travel Bag which was ably awarded to Ganesh Hejamadi for his dedication and service to KWAR and for his social service activities.

The program started after the delicious dinner served to all the guests which were well coordinated by Prasanna Rao, Yathiraj Malpe, Iqbal Thanzimee, Jayakar Poojary , G K Sheikh, Salman Noor, Hussain Shafi and Jagannath Kotian. The gates were at the able hands of Victor Menezes, Ashwath Rai , Rafi Ali, as always they managed it very well to handle all the Guests. The Cultural team was well managed by P.M.Bhaskar, Suresh Suvarna, Mahesh Hegde, Dlilp Kumar and Rajesh Rao. Soon after the dinner the MC duo Umesh Shetty Nitin Rai took over the stage, enthralled the hugely gathered audience with their wit and humor.

Dignitaries present during the event included Air India Manager Kundan Lal, BARSA President Santhosh K. Shetty, Aangan Konkanache President Roshan Lobo along with Ex-President Arun D'Souza, Jamiattul Fallah President Mr. Muzaffar Ali, CEO of Top Taste Company Abdullah Al Qahtani. Al-Kabeer, Gulf Gate Company exhibited their stalls at the venue. Islamic book stall was arranged by Mr.B.K.Majeed, Mr.Mahfouz, Mr.S.M.Salih and Mr.Mohammed Ilyas with the support of Darusalam and distributed free translation of English and Kannada translated holy Quran and Hadith. Suncity Polyclinic organized a free Medical Check-up camp at the venue.

The sponsors included Gulfwest Company Ltd, Darbar Restaurant, Power Electronics, Suncity Polyclinic and Top Taste Company. Support Sponsors were Universal Spare Parts, C2K Suspension, Trans Arabia Contracting, Tajmahal Restaurant, Soft Touch, AXA Insurance Company, McDonald’s, Al Kabeer, Magnum, Al Shadaif Company, Kadesiah Medical Center, Lamah Est County Club and Cityflower. Individual sponsors include Abdul Khader Binzagar, Yathiraj Malpe, Ajay Kumar, Ashwin Shetty, Mohammed Yunus, Ramesh Shetty, Suresh Suvarna, Hameed Wenz, Abdul Basheer Beary, Usman Khader, Khader Qurayath, Rafiq M.S Hanif Fakruddin, Nawaz Deera, Shareef Deera, Khader Khozama, Mehfooz, Shareef Hejamady and Iqbal Thanzeemi.