Skip to content Skip to navigation

Rongali Bihu Celebrations in Kuwait

By editor |

The Asom Association Kuwait celebrated Rongali Bihu over two days on 16th April and 14th May 2010. The main Rongali Bihu function was celebrated as “Manas Robin Xondhiya” on 14th May 2010. The venue for the celebrations was the gorgeous Royal Ballroom of Asia Asia Restaurant in Kuwait City. The programme started at 7:15 PM with the felicitation of the Guests, Hon’ble Ambassador of India to Kuwait, His Excellency, Sri Ajai Malhotra, his wife Smt Ira Malhotra and the guest artists Sri Manas Robin and Sri Hemanta Borah followed by lighting of the ceremonial lamp by them. President of the Asom Association Kuwait, Mr. Bikash Jyoti Gogoi in his inaugural speech, welcomed the gathering and outlined the importance of this celebration. His Excellency Sri Ajai Malhotra in his speech lauded the efforts of the Association and remarked that India’s cultural diversity was the strength which sets it apart from any other country in this world. He also expressed his pleasure in seeing the display of handicrafts and artifacts from Asom and other north eastern states arranged as an exhibition by the duo of Mr. Debashis Kakoty and Ms. Lata Pandey Kakoty.


The annual Souvenir of the Association “Jetuka” edited and published by Mr. Dwaipayan Bora and Dr. Rifat Mannan was released by the Hon’ble Ambassador. He commended the effort and appreciated the available literary talent. He also distributed the prizes of the Drawing and Essay competitions to all winning children. Master Arnab Jyoti Gogoi and Miss Ananya Kashyap were the overall winners in the respective competitions.



The in-house cultural programme co-ordinated by Mr. Abhijit Sharma comprised of the chorus “Srimoyee Asomir” and “Biswar sonde sonde” sung by Anjali Rajkhowa, Ranita Dutta, Sharmistha Bhattacharya, Aruna Dutta, Rupalima Bardalaye, Dr. Ranjita Sarma, Parimita Bora, Debahuti Das, Nilakshi Bora, Mouchumi Sharma, Pranami Bhattacharya, Masum Rajkhowa, Pallabi Saikia, Geeta Rajkhowa, Mitali Goswami, Aghore Bhattacharya, Alok Das, Bijan Goswami and Anupam Rajkhowa which set the tone for the rest of the evening. Mr. Shyamal Barooah and Mr. Abhijit Sharma accompanied the singers on keyboard and guitar respectively to keep the audience spellbound. A scintillating performance of Husori was performed by the group comprising of Aghore Bhattacharya, Alok Das, Jayanta Saikia, Bijan Goswami, Anupam Rajkhowa, Rajib Rajkhowa, Basab Sarma, Nilakshi Bora, Masum Rajkhowa, Pranami Bhattacharya, Mouchumi Sharma and Parimita Bora under the guidance of Mr. Hirendranath Rajkhowa.
The children amply demonstrated their talents by performing classical (Tanaya), Assamese modern dance (Anchita, Shubhangi, Shreya, Gargi, Diksha, Khushi, Tanya, Tasha), Jhumur dance (Swareena, Sneha, Sanghamitra, Oshin, Ananya, Niki) and walking the ramp (Shubhankar, Shruti, Riha, Adi, Obhi, Arya, Ruhi, Adit). They put up their best performance and it was a treat to watch them perform.


A memento was presented to both Manas and Hemanta by Mamoni Gogoi, Pranita Devichoudhury and Anjali Rajkhowa, on behalf of the Association, in appreciation of their participation in the Rongali Bihu celebrations and as a token of our love and affection.


The cultural programme came to an end with the General Secretary Mr. Jayanta Bardalaye offering the vote of thanks.



After the in-house cultural programme, the stage was declared open for “Manas Robin Xondhiya” when the versatile singer, composer and music director Sri Manas Robin took center stage and drew the attention of all in the crowd. He was assisted by Sri Hemanta Borah from Mumbai. Sri Manas Robin had accepted the invitation of the Asom Association, Kuwait to travel to this gulf country to be a part of its Bihu celebrations. The Association was honoured to have him as a guest artiste for the first time and offered its hospitality to him. In his maiden appearance he showed his versatility in full measure as he sang from a whole range of Assamese songs, from the past and the present. He bonded well with the crowd as his playful Bihu numbers captivated the crowd. As he rolled out the latest Assamese hits everyone including adults and children trooped into the stage as they sang and danced to the tune of his music. About 110 persons attended this gala evening. As we remained engrossed in the programme, we failed to notice that it was time for dinner. The sumptuous dinner arranged by Mr. Ramen Deka and Mrs. Anjana Deka complete with a variety of dishes prepared to Assamese taste was the grand finale to the Celebrations.


The event on 16th April 2010 was held at the Al-Fintas Park where the Assamese families gathered for outdoor fun and games activities. The members were welcomed with a plateful of different varieties of pithas, larus and other snacks prepared by the ladies. The bright sunny afternoon in this expansive park was a perfect setting for the members to relax and network, while the children played to their heart's content.


Innovative games devised by Ms. Lata Pandey Kakoty and Mr. Jayanta Madhab Saikia were the attraction of the day. The children played the hopping race, marble-on-spoon race, relay race etc. There were lots of gifts for all children and everyone returned a winner.


Jalpan of doi, chira, kumal chaol, bora chaol, muri with gur and cream was served. The programme ended with a contributory dinner.


(Published by Mr. Dwaipayan Bora, Rongali Bihu Celebration Committee 2010, Kuwait)



Jayanta Bardalaye
Gen. Secretary,
Asom Association, Kuwait


Comments

ALOK KUMAR DAS's picture

Submitted by ALOK KUMAR DAS on Wed, 26/05/2010 - 22:35
It was really a very nice community gathering. Virtually everyone participated in the gala evening and enjoyed to the hilt.

Pages

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

Gogoi gives away appointment letters for 86 teachers

Assam Chief Minister has appointed 86 primary school teachers in 12 disitrcts. The appointment letters were distributed at a function on Thursday at Dispur. In yet another decision, the government has decied to extend the retire period for 2 years to the recipients of the president award and one for the teachers who received the state award.

ULFA help slur: Gogoi asks peacenickers to show evidence

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has offered to quit politics if the pro-talk ULFA rebels could show the evidence that they helped Congress come to power. Addressing a press conference in Dispur on Thursday, Gogoi said he and his party needed no help from ULFA and other terrorist outfits to come to the hot seat. Gogoi found it strange and said ULFA boycotted the elections but now they claimed thier help. "I would quit politics if they can prove what they claim," said the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister further said a Rs 2100 crore fiscal deficit awaits Assam due to the global melt down. But in the same breath, he denied any closure of job opportunities.

Guwahati IASST coming up

Government have considered and approved the request of the Assam Government for conversion of Institute of Advanced Studies in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati, presently under the Government of Assam, into an autonomous grants-in-aid institute of the Government of India, under the Department of Science and Technology. This would meet the hopes and aspirations of people of Assam and North Eastern Region.IASST would endeavour to spot local scientific talent and inspire them to attain national and global level of competence. This would lead to enrichment of the culture of scientific research and would have significant impact on the development of resources of the Assam and the Region...

Police officer killed in N C hills

A police officer was killed another gangman was injured when suspected DHD(J) rebels attacked a group of workers engaged on a railway tract at Langting in North Cachar hills district on Thursday.According to information, the incident took place at around 10-30 in the morning at the railway tracts at Langting at a distance of 100 kilometer from the Haflong police station.The deceased, who died on the spot has yet to be identified as police officer identified as some Baglary who was at work died on the spot while a gangman Anil Dey sustained injury. He has been rushed to the Lumding Hospital.

2 ULFA rebels killed in Majuli

Two hardcore ULFA militants died during a heavy gunfight between ULDA and police and security forces in Majuli on Thursday morning.According to information, acting on a tip off that a team of ULFA rebels was hiding in the area, a joint police and CRPF team launched an operation in Balijan.Heavy exchange of firing came up as the joint team encountered ULFA militants. One of the slained ULFA rebels was suspected to be Bhaskar Hazarika. Police suspect these rebels came from the Myanmar-based camps through Nagaland.Later police recovered an AK-47 rifle aong with some other ammunition.

Gogoi celebrates the Oscar; exempts tax

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has announced exemption of entertainment tax on the movie in the state a day after India-based Slumdog Millionaire got the Oscars.The Chief Minister said the entire nation was proud of the award winning team and the government has responded to it by exempting tax to enable more and more people to watch the movie.He further congratulated the movie's team members and hailed the feat of sound recordists from the state Amrit Pritam who worked as a deputy to Resul Pookutty, the winner of the Oscar best sound mixing award for 'Slumdog Millionaire'.

1 more died in elephant attack

Hardly a month after the elephant festival to counter the man-elephant conflcit, a villager was trampled to death by a wild elephant in the outskirts of the Kaziranga National Park on Tuesday. The deceased was identified as Gopal Barua who trampled to death in his home at Hatikhuli village by the tusker which got separated from its herd and strayed out of the national park at Hatikhuli village. The forest department sources said the department is taking measures to drive the tusker back to the park.

NDFB appears before spl tribunal in Delhi

The National Democratic Front of Bodoland is moving a petition at a special tribunal in Delhi on Wednesday with an appeal to withdraw a ban clamped by the government a few years back.According to information, the high level team led by its chairman Dhiren Boro, general secretary Govinda Basumatary along with several other top ranked leaders camping in the capital are set to appeal before the special tribunal led by Justice S N Agarwalla. The Bodo rebel outfit would be represented by Assam's senior advocate Nekibur Zaman who left for Delhi on Tuesday.Notably, the Union home ministry in a notification issued in November, 2008 asked NDFB to appear before the tribunal on February 25, 2009.

Citizen’s Meet to discuss Stone-man menace

The menace of Stone-man in the city has revealed the overall inefficiency and discriminating attitude of the police & administration towards the victims to a greater extent. The criminal(s) has gone on killing spree in the virtual capital of Northeast India and till date he has targeted the prey more than 12 times in the last 50 days. At least seven homeless beggars died because of the attacks.Journalists’ Forum, Assam has organized a Citizen’s Meet to discuss the issue and adopt resolutions concerning the social security of the city in Guwahati Press Club on February 28 next. Every one is invited to participate in the meeting that will begin on 1 pm.

Violence in Hajo after 2 died in accident

An uneasy situation is what brews at Doomdoma area in Hajo following the death of two persons at an accident. According to information, a section of local residents turned violent minutes after a car ran over two persons at around 9-30 in the morning on Tuesday. The deceased were Hiranya Sarma and his schoolboy Dhimanjyoti Sarma who were on thier way to the school. The driver of the car initially managed to escape from the spot.Policemen came to control the situation as the local residents were looking form the absconding driver. The irate mob damaged the police vehicle forcing the police to blank fire to disperse the mob. Later, the driver was caught and was severely assaulted leaving him...