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Abu Dhabi: The Konkan community of St. Paul’s Catholic Church Mussafah, Abu Dhabi celebrated Konkan Day on 26th of May 2017, bringing together all Konkani loving people for the first time from Catholic Churches of UAE which includes, Mussafah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai, Jebel Ali, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah under the spiritual guidance of Rev. Fr. Ashok Gonsalves, Spiritual Directors of Konkani community of Mussafah.

The main purpose of this mega event was to bring all Konkani speaking community of UAE under one umbrella and show their unity and also to show the rich Konkani Culture and heritage to children and the future generation to continue with the same spirit.
The guests were welcomed at the St. Francis of Assisi Hall by Apex team Secretary Mrs. Veeda D’Lima and Treasurer Mr. John D’Lima by offering paan pod udak and goud ani udak( traditional beetle leaves with arrack nut and jaggrey with water to drink).

The guests were escorted by volunteers to their seats.

The programme started as per schedule around 10 a.m. first by carrying vojen (a traditional culture of helping the needy in kind). Vojen was led by Apex Committee Main Coordinator Mr. Robert Pinto and it was remarkable scene to watch as different kind of vojen like rice mudo, tender coconut, banana leaves etc being given away.

Vojen was followed by flag procession ceremony where UAE flag was carried first, followed by Indian flag and then the flags of all other churches of UAE.

Once the procession of flag ceremony was completed, prayer dance was staged by the kids of St. Paul’s Church Mussafah. Robert Pinto welcomed all priests and dignitaries on to the dais for the formal inauguration of the function. Rev. Fr. Paul Koenig OFM Cap, Custos of Southern Arabia started the prayer and wished the function all the best. A huge cake was cut in commemoration of the event.

Rev. Fr. Ani Xavier OFM Cap, Parish Priest of St.Paul’s church Mussafah lauded the Konkani community of Mussafah for their contribution not only to the church but also to the community and their active participation in all other church events and wished the function every success.

The cultural programme started by an introductory song by M. Ashwin and his teams. St. Mary’s Church Al Ain was the first one to perform with their Konkani comedy skit which was followed by a group dance and ending with Baila dance.

The Community of St. Francis of Assisi Church Jebel Ali was the second one to perform with Konkani medley followed by a skit and a thrilling dance performance. People gave a rousing ovation from the final dance which was appreciated by the audiences.

The community members of the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Health presented a Gumta song which was melodious and their group singing was appreciated by the crowd. It was a well-coordinated effort by the team which is also appreciated by the spectators.

Then came the long awaited team of St. Michaels church Sharjah with their Konkani medley by kids. The spectators gave them a standing ovation for their performance. The parishioner of Abu Dhabi Konkans (Konkani motea)where they expressed their artistic performance initially with a traditional Mando and followed by a witty group dance. Their group dance kept the audience on their toes and it was quite an enchanting performance by Abu Dhabi Konkans. The participants of St. Mary’s Church Dubai really made an efforts to entertain the audiences.

The song “ ami doga sezara vethav kazarak” could not stop the audience from coming on to the floor and dance! Their comedy skit”Kanndgi” (sweet Potato) and the performance of the artists was commendable. Their Baila dance was appreciated by all.

Finally, it was the performance of host church, St. Paul’s church, Mussafah. The initial skit conveyed the message of love for Konkani language and encouraging all Konkani loving people to be proud of their old Konkani language and its rich heritage and not to be ashamed of speaking Konkani in the family. To conclude the programme, there was a mind boggling surprise from Mussafah Konkani community which was appreciated and applauded by all. During the programme, lots of spot prizes were distributed.

Rev. Fr. Robert Lasrado carried out a small prayer before food was served. Konkans delicacies pork bafat was served along with other items. In all over 800 people attended this mega event and approximately 140 participant participated in the programme. The programme was compered by M/s. Annu Bantwal who kept the crowd engaged with his witty and humorous jokes whereas Natkash Borkar kept the crowd on their toes. As many as 12 Priests from different parishes attended this programme.

Konkani Eucharistic service was celebrated around 3p.m. and the main celebrant was Rev. Fr. Valerian Fernandes OFM Cap and Chancellor along with Rev. Fr. Ashok Gonsalves OFM. Cap; Rev. Fr. Maxim Cardoza OFM Cap; and Rev. Fr. Robert Lasrado OFM Cap. Immediately after the mass, a vote of thanks was given by Rev. Fr. Ashok Gonsalves thanking all who helped this event a great success. He appreciated the work of the ushers. In his final speech, he also requested that this mettle should continue and grow and requested all the Konkani community should come forward and arrange such events once in a year for the further growth of the Konkani language, its identity and for the benefit of the community.

Cultural Secretary Mr. Lawrence Rudolf D’Souza requested all priests and dignitaries to come on the dais for the final felicitation and distribution of memento to all coordinators of different churches, Priests, donors and well-wishers. All priests appreciated the efforts taken by Konkani community Mussafah especially Rev. Fr. Ashok Gonsalves for his incessant support to stage this event.

Prior to closing the function, Baila dance was performed by Mussafah community along with other parishes and the programme came to an end around 5:30 pm with all smiles on faces and finally tea/coffee and cake was served to all people.

Indeed it was a memorable day in the history of Konkani community of UAE.