ATTENDANCE: People started turning up early to get the best seats. Photo by the author
By Usha Wagle Gautam
About 10,000 expats from the Indian, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Indonesian communities participated in the Eid al-Adha festival organised by the Ministry of Interior (MOI) at Al Khor Sports Club and the Amphitheatre of the West End Park. The high attendance was spurred by free entry.
At the West End Park, performers from various groups showcased their national folk and cultural dances. The Indian contingent performed in Hindi, Malayalam, Punjabi and Tamil languages. A group of performers — Anaswara, Vidhula, Hridya, Swetha and Akshara — presented a variety of Indian classical dances.
Another Indian group representing the Skills Development Center — the two Gauris and Neha, Arsha, Srinanda, Srilakshmi, Bavana and Annah — also performed a folk dance. Their performance on the Bollywood song Lungi Dance connected well with the audience.
Other Indian performers were from the Maharashtra Mandal Qatar, Ideal Indian School, Kalanilayam, and Kottayam District Art and Cultural Association.
Dhruba BC started the Nepali performances with a song. His performance was followed by a “Jhyaure dance” performed by eight artists — Babin Rai, Ramesh Magar, Tek Rasuii, Mohan Thapa Magar, Rosika Lama, Maya Tamang, Anjana Tamang and Anu Rahut — dressed in their Magar costumes.
Folk singer Devika KC sang Lok Geet Nasunne ta Nepali Nai Hoina (You are not a Nepali if you do not listen to folk songs). Six members of the Nepali Kirat Society — Padam Bahadur Sunwar, Hem Bahadur Sunuwar, Buddhiman Sunuwar, Nir Bahadur Sunwar, Dhan Bahadur Sunwar and Nar Bahadur Sunwar — performed the “Sakela Chandi” dance, a unique folk dance of the Rai community in Nepal. Nir Bahadur said he was proud of wearing traditional attire on the occasion and to be able to present his culture to such a large audience.
Next up was the Pakistani contingent. The Pakistan Education Centre’s team — Aslam Bangash, Haleem Bangash and Saad Jabedh — started off with Hawa Hawa, which connected with the audience so well that they cheered for another song. Khalid Malik performed a Pushto song. Another group danced to the song Luddi Hey Jamalo. The highlights of the Pakistani performance were the folk dances and the Punjabi songs.
Ten Sri Lankan artists started off their performance with an Islamic song, followed by a Sri Lankan cultural dance performed by kids from the Dinu Dance Academy. The dance focused on the importance of water for crops and greenery for preventing landslides. The Dinu Dashi band the performed the “Graham dance,” also called the Sri Lankan cultural drumming session, with artists playing musical instruments like the dholak, madal and drum. Eight artists presented another Sri Lankan cultural dance followed by the singing of “Baila song”.
Srabon, a fusion rock band, started things off for Bangladesh. They performed a variety of songs reflecting the diversity of Bangladesh.
The Indonesian performances might have been saved for the last but did not pale in comparison to other performances. Their mix of traditional and modern Indonesian attires kept the audience hooked. A female artist performed a dance called Indang, followed by a group of six artists performing the Dolanan dance. They also performed the Tor-Tor dance.
Jigar Singh, an Indian who had come to see the show with his wife and two daughters, said that he found the entire medley of multiple cultures “wonderful.” Bandana Sharma, a Nepali who had come from Al-Rayyan with her husband and children, said, “I never imagined such talented artists live in Qatar. I am impressed with the performances here.” She added: “The Nepali artists took me back to my country, its people and richness.”
Ibrahim Khan, a Pakistani member of the audience, said he would have preferred some comedy to lighten the mood. But he still liked the performances. “I loved Lungi Dance and the Hawa Hawa performance.”
Mufida from Indonesia was so excited that she said she wished she could have performed on stage.
Salim, a Bangladeshi audience member, had come along with 500 other workers to watch the show. “I have been living in Qatar from 2001 and I came from Sanaiya to see the programme. Such programmes help us deal with our loneliness and get together in a social gathering.”
Hussain from Sri Lanka was particularly happy with the free ticket price, which he said helped ordinary workers attend the show.
