Cultural activities as part of “Passage To India 2022” celebrations marking the Qatar-MENSA 2022 Year of Culture at the MIA Park. Pics: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula
The 10th Passage to India 2022, an Indian community festival held at MIA Park from March 24 to 26, provided a great platform to Indian expatriates to perform and enjoy colourful cultural programmes.
Held under the supervision of Embassy of India, the three-day event was facilitated by Indian Cultural Center (ICC).
“The festival attracted thousands of enthusiastic Indian expatriates who enjoyed the cultural programmes,” P N Baburajan, the President of ICC, told The Peninsula.
He said that the festival featured a number of activities and programmes such as the Taj Mahal replica, cultural shows, food court presented by 12 registered cafeteria and eateries, ice cream parlors of different tastes including north and, south Indian, Rajasthan and Malabar.
Baburajan revealed that the major attraction of the event was the Thiruvathirakali, a traditional dance from the southern Indian state of Kerala, performed by 146 ladies.
Visitors at the fancy stalls.
ICC Vice-President, Subramanya Hebbagelu said that the performance was eye-catching and marvelous to watch showing India’s rich culture and traditions of festivity.
He said that crowd roared with joy after watching the performance for the first time on a huge scale in Qatar. The festival also recognised a flawless and seamless contribution of many Indians who stood like a bridge and helped in enhancing the India-Qatar relationship for decades.
“The second largest performance was mega Garba, a form of dance which originates from the state of Gujarat in India,” added Baburajan.
Dr. Shoma Jithesh and Anju Anand who performed at the festival said that they really enjoyed a lot and hoped that such mega events will continue, giving the community members an avenue to display their talents.
Baburajan said that the event was aimed at providing opportunity to members of Indian expatriates to participate in cultural programmes.
“A number of expatriate community members in different groups performed cultural programmes on the first day of the festival,” he said.
FROM LEFT: Dr. Shoma Jithesh, Anju Anand and P N Baburajan.
He said that the participation was easy as they required only to register at ICC to join the festival. “A large number of individuals and Indian cultural organisations made registration.”
The second day was dedicated for Indian school students.
“Nine Indian schools with 550 students participated in the festival. This was the first time school students were getting opportunity to perform outside the campus,” he said.
The students rocked the stage with their scintillating performances. In a felicitation ceremony, mementos were presented to all sponsors of Passage to India by Xavier Dhanran, First Secretary and Coordinator officer of ICC.
Baburajan said that ICC is planning to organise more similar events such as cultural fiesta before FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 welcoming the mega sporting event.
“We are working to make ICC as a cultural hub for Indian expatriate community in Qatar to celebrate their cultures,” he said.
“ICC hosts cultural shows and programmes by Indian cultural organisations every Wednesday at its Ashoka Hall free of charge,” said Baburajan.
Several missions of various countries visited and enjoyed the musical extravaganza. The evening started with the musical team singing famous songs from Indian movies.
The entire event was managed by several volunteering teams under the chairmanship of A P Manikanthan. Several cultural events from associated organisations, Indian Schools, and other Indian teams were managed and presented by Shweta Koshti, Kamala Thakur, and Suma Mahesh Gowda.
All the dance teams mesmerised the audience with their wonderful well-choreographed performances. Aside from the performance, the stalls and food outlets also became an attraction of the Passage to India.
The day three of festival featured the honouring of 40 long serving members of Indian community in Qatar for their services to the country. Cultural performances were also displayed on the last day.
