The Dia Nacional de Portugal, de Camoes e das Comunidades Portuguesas was celebrated in Daman on the 10th of June in the settings of the beautiful Mirasol Lake Resort in Small Daman.
The open-air program scheduled from 5.00pm to 7.00pm local time took off around 6.00pm to allow the hot summer sun to cool down in the Arabian Sea!
His Excellency, the Consul General of Portugal Pedro Cabral Adao gave the Welcome speech (in English) followed by a speech by Mr Dharmendra, the Development Commissioner of Daman and then by renowned local orator Mr. Gabriel Guedes who spoke in Portuguese. Mr. Sergio Mascarenhas de Almeida, Director of Fundacao Oriente, Goa also graced the occassion.
Besides the Development Commissioner, Dr. Modassir, Collector of Daman, Mr. Reddy, Conservator of Forests, Mr. Eurico Rosario, Chief of Police, Mr. Orlando Miranda, Asst Public Prosecutor, Mr. Vishal, President of the Daman Municipal Council were also present. Others present in the huge crowd were the priests, senior citizens Dr. J N Gama & Mr. Arjemiro Fernanes, the press, including Mr. Abhijit Mukhopadyay, Executive Editor of the popular UTS' VOICE.
At the beginning of the show, the National Anthem of India was played followed by that of Portugal.
The main theme of the Consul General's speech was about the friendly relations that now exists between India and Portugal.
The speeches were followed by a cultural show of traditional/folk dance and songs by 3 local groups viz., Bem Fica of Small Daman, Caravela of Big Daman and a new and upcoming group of Big Daman.
Certificates of merit were presented to students who successfully passed the various grades of the Portuguese language classes held in Daman.
The Consul General graciously conceded to my request to launch my website titled "Saudades! Folk Memories of Damao" at the end of the show by clicking the 'Publish' button on my laptop computer that activated Apple's iWeb application for uploading the site at http://web.mac.com/noelgama.
After the launch of 'Saudades,' the groups from Small Daman, Big Daman, the visitors from Goa and the Consul himself, all joined in onstage for the Grand Finale - dancing to folk songs of Damao!
Copyright © 2006 Noël Gama
http://www.noelgama.com
No comments:
Post a Comment