Dubai: The Odisha Samaj United Arab Emirates (OSUAE), organized Utsav 2019, its 10th edition – at Horizon International School to celebrate Utkal Divas on the 19th April 2019.
The event was marked by the benign presence of Dubai based consul- General of India, H.E Shri Vipul as chief guest. Mr. Vipul had earlier served at India’s diplomatic missions in Cairo, Colombo and Geneva. He has also worked as a joint secretary at the office of India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. He was moved to see the community’s reciprocation for the event. He admired and stated that Odisha samaj is so far the one of the biggest social organization in UAE.
The chief speaker for the event was Hon. Dr. Swarup Ranjan Mishra.
A dynamic personality with his roots from Odisha, is an honorable member of Parliament, ‘Kesses’ constituency of Republic of Kenya. He is the founder chairman of ‘’Mediheal’’ Group of Hospitals in Kenya, Rwanda & Addis Abba, and these health facilities are the pioneer of many super specialties and advanced Medical Fraternity like Neuro, IVF, Imaging, Kidney Replacement Therapy, Cardiac, Critical Care etc. in this part of the world. He is also currently director of Economic Diplomacy at Kenya Chamber of Commerce & Industries. He is also member of India Kenya Business Council.
Dr. Mishra, on stage began his speech by revealing his journey from Odisha to Kenya. He accentuated the coincidental striking resemblance between Odisha and Kenya from its geographical location to its outstretch, valleys, mountains, waterways and progressive mindset of the people. He also emphasized that Kenya is as much unexplored as odisha is in terms of its natural resources and minerals. It was a delight to overhear him. He shared his vison of having an odia global network. His love for Odisha is unfathomable. It was an honor for OSUAE to have him as one of the esteemed guests to grace the occasion.
Dr. B.R. Shetty, the guest of Honor is an Indian-born businessman, and the founder of a number of companies based in the United Arab Emirates. He is founder and chairman of Abu Dhabi based NMC Healthcare and chairman of UAE Exchange. He is also the founder and chairman of Neopharma, Finablr and BRS Ventures. Dr. Shetty was included on the Forbes list of India’s 100 Richest People in both 2015 and 2016.
His presence made a profound impact on the hearts of odia fraternity in the auditorium as he announced the foundation of the Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi on the subsequent day and presence of Lord Jagannath’s statue as one of the profound deities. His love for ‘OSUAE’ and the event was so much embedded that he professed he would attend even when not invited. ‘OSUAE’ with utmost humility and gratitude is thankful for his attendance and being a part of ‘UTSAV’ 2019.
Mr. Nrupaditya Singhdeo, the other guest of honor is one of the founding management team members of Al Masah Capital Limited and has been closely associated with the setup of its PE focused business. He is a board member of ‘Al Najah Education’.
Coming from a royal family, he was overwhelmed to see ‘Odisha’ outside ‘Odisha’ weaved in a royal manner through ‘UTSAV’ 2019. He had all praises for ‘OSUAE’ team for organizing the event.
Capt. S. R. Patnaik, was another guest of honor who is the Director & C.E.O., International Shipping & Logistics FZE, Dubai. He is a very well-known and respected name in the maritime industry. A highly-driven leader with strong techno-commercial acumen and more than 30 years of experience in Shipping.
Capt. Patnaik shared how consistently has team ‘OSUAE’ been organizing the event since last 10 years. Being an integral part of the event, he has been an advisor and mentor for ‘OSUAE’. He spoke about the statistics, population and how Odisha has nurtured itself over the years under the state leadership. He highlighted the richness and resourcefulness of all segments of Odisha from north to south and east to west.
Mr. Amiya Mishra, president of Odisha Samaj UAE, conversing about the event, said: “Utkal Divas (Odisha Day) is celebrated on April 1 in Odisha in the memory of the formation of the state as a separate province in 1936. Here in the UAE, it is celebrated on a convenient Friday in the month of April. Mr. Mishra welcomed and thanked all the guests for sparing their valuable time to commemorate the occasion.
The event kickstarted with the Odia anthem ‘Bande Utkala Janani’. A splendid display of the best that Odisha has to offer in terms of dance, music, handicrafts, fashion and food. Local Odia children, men and women were leading the celebrations with their performances.
The highlight of this event was the showcase of an outstanding performance from Mr. Saswat Joshi, exhibiting the intrinsic traditional dancing to the Lyrics of our own odia anthem ‘Bande Utkala Janni’ sang by the legendary singers Asha Bhosale and Shankar Mahadevan. This was followed by the melodious choral from this year odia filmware award winner and singing sensation Mr. Swayam Padhi joined by renowned and celebrated Ollywood singer Ms. Antara Chakraborty. The melodious amalgamation of songs both in Hindi and odia enthralled the audience. A very graceful and powerful dance presented from Kathak exponent Nishi singh and her team with admirable confidence was another limelight which drooled the audiences.
The event also featured Odisha’s dance, music, handicrafts and fashion from the local residents. While the morning session comprised of some powerpack performances by Odia children, men and women, the post lunch session’s attraction was the fashion show ‘Karuvaki’. A true reflection of Odia Pattachitra redefined through this exclusive compilation brought by our own local odia boys and girls. The extravaganza was mesmerizing for the crowd. The afternoon lunch was a culinary delight comprising of ethnic and exotic dishes cooked to perfection.
Team OSUAE would like to than the volunteers behind the scene for creating this magic and all the odia residents for making it a memorable one. We are all so proud for this great work and shall continue to endeavor spreading our wings. We hope this effort of ours will contribute to enhance interest in Odisha and will ultimately contribute in some way towards its development.”
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