One and only Grand community event IIK Diwali Mela a Huge success
Photos by: Subin Jagdish, Vivek Shah and Fayez Mahmoud
Sunday, October 20, 2019
The one and only Mega Community Event for the Indian community in Kuwait - IIK Diwali Mela 2019 - turned out to be the largest gathering of Indian community in Kuwait at Al Zumurda Hall, Salwa on Friday, 18th October.
More than 10,000 family crowd witnessed the full day long mega celebration organized by the popular community portal Indiansinkuwait.com for the consecutive eighth year in Kuwait. The full day event flawlessly conducted by IIK was well received by the community and appreciated by the entire people gathered there.
The Mega Indian Diwali Celebration was inaugurated by the former Kuwait Minister of Health and the current president of Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) HE Prof. Dr. Hilal Al Sayer by lighting the lamp in presence of H.E. Ambassador of Guyana to Kuwait Professor Dr. Shamir Ally, Chairman of Lemonade International Mr Ali Al Sayeg and IIK representatives. HE Prof. Dr. Hilal Al Sayer appreciated the efforts of IndiansinKuwait.com to bring the whole Indian community together in a single platform and organize such a mega event for the benefit of the community. He even spoke a few words in Hindi. H.E. Ambassador of Guyana to Kuwait Professor Dr. Shamir Ally also recalled his India connection by witnessing the largest Indian celebration in Kuwait. The event was attended by several well-known personalities including Mr Anant Kapadia, Chairman of IBPC, Mr Muhammed Merchant, Mr Markos Wiliams, principals and Chairman of various Indian schools in Kuwait etc..
Mr. Rafik Boghdady, Vice President Sales and Mr Andrew Ward, VP Marketing of Jazeera Airways and Mr. Ali Asghar, Area manager of Al Muzaini represented the Gold sponsor, Ms. Afrah Berro, Marketing Manager of Mitsubishi Motors represented the Silver sponsor and Mr. Anas Irshaid , Xiaomi Country Head of Bloom Telecom as Associate Sponsor of the Diwali Mela were felicitated for sponsoring the event. All the participating Associations were felicitated at the event.
As people started to gather in large number as early as 8:00 am on a Friday morning to witness the Rangolis and Diwali Sweets, one of the lucky winner who reached the venue before 9:45 was selected in a raffle draw and received a Return Ticket to Dubai sponsored by Jazeera Airways.
The cultural celebrations began with a welcome dance by Malavika Krishna followed by a colourful patriotic dance by the students of Dancing Divas.
Depicting the true colors of unity in diversity, various Indian community from all parts of Indian showcased their cultural performance of different regions. Participating associations includes Kuwait Gorkhali Samaj representing North Eastern region, Kuwait Odisha Association, Samarpan Gujarat Association, Friends of Kannur Expats Association (FOKE) representing Kerala, Telangana Chaitanya Sravanthi, UPKAR from Uttar Pradesh and Maurya Kala Parisar representing Bihar Jharkhand region.
Selected winners from Indians in Kuwait Got Talent also showcased their talent at Diwali Mela. The ‘Rasam’ Musical band also enthralled the audience with their performance. Various Dance performances by Dance Groups Gurukul Summer Kids, Jhankaar, Upasana, D-Illusion Kids, Srishti Dance Academy, Shaan E Punjab, Nilaxi, Dancing Divas and F-Factor mesmerized the audience with their colorful performances.
Games stalls, Special kids’ corner, Stalls of various traditional dresses and artifacts, Dandya Dance etc gave a fun filled entertainment day for the whole family.
People were really surprised by valuable spot prizes and the regular raffles every hour though out the day. The valuable prizes were sponsored by Jazeera Airways, Mitsubishi Motors and Gurukul.
The day began with a number of competitions such as Rangoli sponsored by Al-Muzaini Exchange, Diwali Mithai and Namkeen contest sponsored by KDD. Large number of people participated in these competitions. The display of Diwali Lanterns made by the students of various Indian schools created the festive atmosphere at the Diwali Mela. Diwali Lanterns competition was sponsored by Al-Rashed International Shipping Co. There was also Regional Family Fashion show and Dandiya Dance contest in between. Dandya Dance Contest was sponsored by Jazeera Airways. All the competitions were organized by Indian Women in Kuwait – IWIK.
Celebrity Kuwaiti Singer Mubarak Al Rasheed stole the show in the evening with the latest Bollywood hits. He made the audience grove to the music. Mubarak surprised the audience with his latest Hindi Songs and sang among the audience.
Prize distribution of all the competitions which was held throughout the day at the Mela was done in-between the programs in the afternoon. “Kuwait Odisha Association” bagged the prize for the Best Participating Association at IIK Diwali Mela 2019. Mr Wilson D’Souza proposed vote of thanks.
The event was well anchored by Mr Surya Prakash, Dr Navniit Gandhi, Ms Reshmi Krishnakumar and Ms Rachana.
The spontaneous flash mob by the Dillusions group was an added attraction for the crowd. Large number of crowd participated in the Open Dandiya. Altogether, the day was a great entertainment for the whole Indian community and made them feel back at home, in India for their Diwali. With great ambiance, IIK Diwali Mela 2019 by the popular community portal IndiansinKuwait.com turned out to be the best magical moment for the entire Indian families.
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