GOANS CELEBRATE GOA DAY – 2007 Goa Day 2007 was celebrated in a grand style at the Indian Community School Auditorium in Salmiya – Kuwait on November 9, 2007, after a lapse of two years and yet it was hailed as an unique event. It was largely attended and the venue was packed to capacity, with some of the people having to go back to their dismay. Even though the start up time was announced as 10.00 a.m. Goa Day activities commenced at 11.30 a.m with a big bang, led by musician Socorro and his Jolly Boys leading the Presidents of the 14 Participating Clubs along with President of Goan Welfare Society to the stage set up in the Auditorium. The inaugural ceremony was a treat to watch when the Presidents of each participating Clubs contributed by way of solving a jigsaw puzzle, to put together all the parts of Goa (Talukas) on a specially designed board to depict the Map of Goa.Thereafter the President of the Goan Welfare Society, Wilson Coelho, officially declared the Goa Day 2007, opened to a thunderous applause from the mammoth crowd. In the traditional manner a prayer and singing of the hymn St. Francis Xavier, invoked the contributions of all those present to recognize the countless blessing that have been showered on the Goan community, over the years by the Patron Saint of Goa, for the success of Goa Day. A colorful Souvenir, published to mark the occasion, was released by the President of the Goan Welfare Society, in the presence of the Presidents of participating Clubs/Organizations. Similarly, the VCD entitled “Dukham” produced by Querobina Carvalho – comedy queen of the Konkani Stage, was inaugurated at the hands of the President of GWS. The Konkani songs singing competition, which is designed at encouraging Konkani, had a good response with participation of 35 school going children in various categories. The competition was conducted by Cajetan Pereira, Head of the GWS Cultural Cell, in accordance with a set rules and regulations of the competition. The three independent judges, Francis de Verna, Querobina Carvalho and Adolf Fernandes, who were entrusted to choose the best three of each of the 3 categories and they did a wonderful job. Our distinguished guests, Fr. Tony D’Souza – Director and Fr. Lionel Braganza, Principal both of Don Bosco school, who attended the singing competition were all praise for the excellent manner in which the competition was conducted and impetus given to Konkani. The curtains were raised for the next event, when Julio and McCloud, took over to take over the task of providing the best to the rocking people who came to rejoice at the sound of music produced by ‘Deep Impact’ and ‘2 Sharp’. They made sure that the people got the best from both the Bands and ensured the best was given to the rejoicing crowd. Later in the day, the Cultural Program was staged with renowned professional artists and amateur artistes of Konkani stage, who gave their best performance to a capacity crowd who enjoyed every moment of the Program hosted by Cajetan de Savordem and Ms. Janet Fernandes. The performance that stood out in the Cultural Program is that of Sanny de Quepem, who rendered a song “ EKVOTH MUNCHEAKULACHO” which convey the essence of Unity among human kind, more so among the Goans. All the other artistes were vociferous in their performance which was well acclaimed by the audience. The Chief Guest for the Goa Day, His Excellency, Ambassador of India to Kuwait, Shri M. Ganapati, was impressed in the manner in which the Goa Day was organized. He appreciated the unity that was displayed and stated that this was one occasion where he witnessed one of the largest attendance among the Indian Community, assembled under one banner. He was all praise for the Goans and was happy that Indians are in the forefront in socio-economic development of India. In his speech, Shri Eduardo Faleiro, NRI Commissioner and Ex-External Affairs Minister, who was a guest of Honor at the function expressed his happiness for having attended such a glamorous occasion. He commended the Konkani stage artistes, for their wonderful performance and praised their talent, being away from their motherland. He defined the purpose of his visit and expressed satisfaction at the way the Goans organize themselves and hold activities such as Goa Day. He presented a Memento – book on Kaleidoscopic Goa, a cultural Atlas and pictures of Velha Goa, the traditional hand painting Azuleijos, a collection of Mario Miranda - a renowned Goan Cartoonist. This Mega Event was sponsored by Western Union and others, who recognize the services and good nature of Goans who live in Kuwait. A day long event which will be long remembered by Goans in Kuwait, having witnessed the happenings at Goa day 2007 and for having made it a point to be a part of this grand celebration, went home totally satisfied. Discover the new Windows Vista Learn more! Connect to the next generation of MSN Messenger Get it now! _________________________________________________________________ Explore the seven wonders of the world http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=7+wonders+world&mkt=en-US&form=QBRE
