Photo coverage : Joachim Dsouza
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Muscat, Feb 16: Mangalorean Catholic Centre of the Parish (MCCP) organised the much-awaited Mangalorean Day with great pomp and flourish on Friday February 5. The event was termed ‘Mangalorean Milan’ this year and was enjoyed by a large number of community members. MCCP has been conducting Mangalorean Day for the last several years and is traditionally known for its typical Mangalurean content which brings back memories of the native place. This year, the executive committee of MCCP while maintaining the same flavour, made several additions and changes to further improve the participation and fun.
The day began with a flurry of activities right from 11 am at the Muscat Club Sports Ground, Wadi Kabir, with participants queuing up for registration. At the counter, every person was allotted a colourful ribbon to form the teams. The emcee of the day, Lancy Lobo, an ex-president of MCCP, welcomed the crowd on behalf of MCCP and explained how MCCP has been providing a platform to showcase members’ talents over the years. Prayers to begin with were led by spiritual secretary Anitha Danthi. Eula Pinto from Omantel, an ardent supporter of MCCP was called on stage to grace the occasion as chief guest. Her unstinted support and Omantel’s patronage to MCCP for the last several years was lauded by the president and she was felicitated with a bouquet. MCCP president John Gonsalves in his welcome address asked everyone to enjoy this open day without any inhibitions and with sportsman’s spirit. He urged more and more members of the community to come together and participate in all the activities of MCCPas one family. Releasing of colourful balloons in the sky by the chief guest and the executive committee members marked the official opening of the event. It was then the man designated to run the show for the whole day, Suraj Rebello took centre stage along with Dolly Gomes. They called all the members to assemble as per the colour of the ribbons allotted to them. It was revealed that there were 6 teams representing each colour and each team had a name. The names of the teams were rib-tickling and at the same time had a connection with MCCP’s theme of the year ‘Malgadyank maan, kutmanth samadhan’ and Mangalurean tradition. The names were, Abacho Gaslight, Odlimaichi Chimni, Babacho Adalo, Maichen Kanthne, Bappucho Kolso and Mausechen Kundle. Captain and vice-captain for each team were selected and a march-past was conducted with traditional Mangalurean band leading the pack. Children, who were present in good numbers, were divided into teams and the much-awaited football matches commenced without delay. In the meanwhile, special Mangalurean cuisine lunch was served to satiate the taste buds of all present. Immediately after lunch the teams reassembled and the competitive spirit was brought to the fore with various fun games being played one after the other. The major ones being, breaking the pot, tug-of-war, couple dance, ‘kissing the heart’ game, pushing the ball (tomato) with a suspended cucumber, coconut breaking tussle, banana eating competition etc. The seniors present were treated with certain special games and children competed with each other in various sprint events. At the end of each game, every team was allotted points based on their performance, generating tremendous enthusiasm among the participants. The finale of the day was the closing ceremony wherein the winning teams as well as individual winners in various events were recognised and prizes were given. Ladies dance group, led by Dynet Fernandes along with Flavia Fernandes, Flavia Castelino, Gail Castelino and Reshma D’Costa presented a traditional dance performance to enliven the evening. Hot snacks were served as the evening was getting cooler with coffee and tea throughout the day, which kept the crowd warm and enjoying. The famous trio of Kudla Friends, Muscat, Shrikant Shetty, Yuvraj Salian and Suraj Rebello were felicitated for their contribution towards conducting Kudla Cup for the last five years. MCCP core committee member Donald Pinto in his felicitation talk praised the trio for enhancing the harmony among various communities of Mangalore and urged communities to carry forward the good work in the years to come. Mariette Fernandes was also felicitated for her contribution to MCCP for the last several years and MCCP wished her well in her future endeavours. Lancy Lobo announced the winners of ‘Christmas Crib competition-2015’ conducted by MCCP and prizes were distributed by the president. The winners : First prize: Aslita D’Souza and family John Gonsalves, in his concluding remarks applauded the efforts of Suraj Rebello, Dolly Gomes and Lancy Lobo to make the Mangalorean Day a success. He also thanked Joachim (photography), Loveline Rego (DJ), Henry Rodrigues (scorer) and Dynet Fernandes (dance performance) along with other supporters. He also called on stage all the volunteers who worked tirelessly in the background in preparation for this day. Beautiful stage banner was designed by Joylin Gonsalves. Honorary treasurer, Sunil Furtado gave a vote of thanks to all the individuals and organizations who have contributed to the event. At the end, everyone present was given a gift bag full of goodies to take back home. The community members thoroughly enjoyed the various activities and would fondly remember the fun-filled Mangalorean Day for a long time to come. Omantel / Renna Mobile / Oman Data Park / MBM Trading / National Training Institute / Muscat Pharmacy/ IFFCO Distribution LLC/ IbnSina Pharmacy/ Areej Vegetable Oils & Derivatives / Sweets of Oman /Al Mudhish Company/ National Biscuits / Barka Poultry Farm / W J Towell / Sharada Infra Design, Mangaluru and others. Sponsors for the year: Gold Sponsors: Renna Mobile / Omantel [flagallery gid=133] [flagallery gid=134] [flagallery gid=135] [flagallery gid=136] [flagallery gid=137] [flagallery gid=138]
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