Dubai: Vamanjooreans UAE, a profound community residing in Dubai, honoured the Birthday of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ on the occasion of the Feast of the Family called “Monthi Fest”. As a family, we gathered on September 18, 2022, in the morning at 11 a.m.at Biryani 2020 restaurant, Oud Mehta. Dubai. On this momentous day, we as a family of Vamanjooreans celebrated the occasion with great respect towards Mother Mary by praising, singing hymns, offering flowers and there after drinking Novem in a traditional way. It was an inimitable opportunity for us all to meet our fellow parishioners. The programme was initiated by praising Mother Mary with the hymn “Sakkad Sangatha Melyan” along with the offering of flowers done on a procession. Prayers were led by Joyline Pinto and the team (Lavita, Preema, Elvira, Lydia, Flavin and Joel).
On this beautiful occasion, we missed our most loved ones- Ullas Menezes, Roopa Lobo and Francis Rodrigues. A heartfelt and tears-filled obituary was offered to them by Mrs Joyline Pinto. Emcee Mrs Sunita D’souza made a fantastic job by asking some questions related to Vamanjoor’s history of the Catholic community. She engaged the audience in participating in various games and other cultural activities.
Our Chief Guest Rev. Father Victor Fernandes gave us inspiration and blessed the event and also made a culture NOVEN JEVAN come alive along with President Johnson Monteiro and other elderly personnel on the dais. We all were fascinated by a solo dance performance from Delisha and Jeenal. The group dance was performed by Roshan and Lenora. We Vamanjooreans do not lack talent, no matter what the circumstance is. The catholic youth of Vamanjoor are filled with immense energy, which we want to showcase at the best.
The wonderful group dance was performed by Clavia, Sandhya, Flavan, Jovita, Preema, Denzil, Lavita, Vinay, Lynal and Elvira. Vamanjooreans are not only good at dance but we do have some melodious voices too. Mr Joel Pinto and Mrs Sheetal D’souza smoothened our minds with their euphonious voices to our ears. All this would not have been possible if we did not have the equipment to hear. Dj and the sound setup were arranged by Dj Errol. The occasion dates back to the culture of having lunch with a variety of food on a Banana Leaf.
Yes, we at Vamanjooreans UAE had a wonderful lunch on a banana leaf and the food was served by Das Prakash Restaurant Karama, Dubai. The best traditional outfit award was claimed by Joel Pinto from the male category and Juliana from the Female. A quiz on the topic of Vamanjoor and history was conducted and, the winner was Delton Miranda.
A popular game called as “HOUSIE HOUSIE” was conducted at the end of the programme and prizes were distributed to the winners. We had a Baila dance section for all Vamanjooreans to cherish the beautiful memories. The whole event was captured on the frame by Merwyn Furtado (Merclicks) to add another slot to our memories. The entire event was formulated under the leadership of Mr Johnson Monteiro and Stephan Menezes and other committee members.
The event was a splendid success as many Vamanjooreans were present and hope the same in a bigger realm in the future. Report By: Merwyn Furtado Picture Credits: Merclicks (Merwyn Furtado)
