Dubai, Oct 20:
UAE Bunts devotionally concluded a vibrant ‘Shree Satyanarayana Pooja’ at JSS School premises, Al Barsha on 19th of October, 2012 from 9.30 AM to 1.30 PM with more than 1300 devotees present throughout the pooja formalities seeking blessing from the Lord.

Chief Convener of UAE Bunts, Padmashree Dr. B.R. Shetty greeted the devotees and conveyed Navaratri wishes to all. Among other prominent personalities include Shekar Shetty of Arab Udupi Group of Hotels, Sarvotham Shetty, President UAE Bunts, Sudhir Kumar Shetty, CEO UAE Exchange Co and many Presidents and Office Bearers of various Community Organisations in the UAE who witnessed the Pooja along with members of the Bunts Community.


The pooja formalities were conducted on a beautifully decorated Mantap full of flowers and fruits on a high pedestal with a huge back drop of Goddess Mahalaksmi & Goddess Durgaparameshwari behind the colourfully litted wooden mantap.

Sarvotham Shetty welcomed all the devotees and opened up the pooja formalities with a prayer. It started with Guru Pooja, Ganapathi Pooja, Kalasa Pooja, Navagraha Pooja, Satyanarayana Pooja, Bhajans & continued with Satyanarayana Katha recitation and concluded with Maha Mangalarathi. The pooja formalities were ably done by Purohit Raghu Bhat along with his assistants. On behalf of the Bunts Community, couples Gunasheel Shetty & Sahana Gunasheel Shetty, Ashok Shetty & Veena Ashok Shetty, Prasanna Shetty & Sushma Prasanna Shetty sat on the main pedestal to receive the pooja blessings.

During the programme, senior member of UAE Bunts, Jagadish Shetty & Prathima Jagadish Shetty were honoured with Shawl by Dr. B.R. Shetty while Shekar Shetty presented Fruits & Flower bouquet to the felicitated couple. UAE Bunts felicitated the said couple as they have decided to settle down in their home town for good. Their dedicated service to the community during these three decades were fondly remembered while Sarvotham Shetty bid them farewell.

It was nice to see various community organisation’s leaders and members participated in UAE Bunts Pooja throughout the day and they were Billawas Dubai & NE, Billawa Balaga Dubai, Billawara Balaga Abu Dhabi, Nama Tuluveru UAE, Vishwakarma Seva Samithi, Mogaveers UAE, UAE Amchigele Samaj, Devadigara Sangha, Kodagu & Dakshina Kannada Gowda Samaja, Kodava Samaja, Vokkaligara Sangha UAE, Padmashaali Samoodhaya, Ramaraja Khastriya Sangha, Brahmana Samaja, Theeya Samaja, Kundapura Devadiga Mithraru, Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha, Dubai Karnataka Sangha, Sharjah Karnataka Sangha, Dwaniprathistana, Kannada Koota, Basava Samithi including many senior citizens and well wishers.

Bunts Senior organiser Ganesh Rai thanked Shashikala Sharad Shetty for the beautiful Mantap, Rajesh Kuthar & Team for the flower decoration, Raghu Bhat, Shivaraj Rao & Krishna Prasad for the pooja formalities, Satish Shetty & Sangeetha Shetty for the devotional bhajan arrangement, B.G. Mohandas & Ashok Belman for Media support through Gulf Kannadiga.com, Shodhan Prasad for Media support and coverage in Daijiworld and other media websites, Vinay Naik for Media support through Namma TV, Sponsors Pravin Shetty, Rajesh Shetty, Shashikala Sharad Shetty, Shekar Shetty, Guruprasad Shetty & Gunasheel Shetty.

Soon after the pooja formalities, the devotees queued up for the dharshan and prasada systematically. Later the prasada was distributed by the Ladies Team and the devotees followed to the first floor for Maha Prasada pure Vegetarian Lunch Buffet and savored the tasty dishes and sweets served by Woodland Restaurant Sharjah and Saheba Caterers, Ajman whose owners Divesh Alva & Shekar Shetty were applauded for the tasty food distributed.

The whole programme was systematically conceptualized by an able enthusiastic Team of UAE Bunts comprising of Sarvotham Shetty, Ganesh Rai & Sudhakar Alva supported by Pravin Kumar Shetty, Shekar Shetty, Divesh Alva. They were assisted by the organizing Committee Couple Members of UAE Bunts, Dr. Suraj Rai & Dr. Arathi Rai of Abu Dhabi, Udaya Shetty & Shashikala Uday Shetty of Dubai, Prasanna Shetty & Sushma Prasanna Shetty, Niranjan Shetty & Shilpa Niranjan Shetty, Nishith Shetty & Reshma Nishith Shetty, Satish Shetty & Sangeetha Shetty, Suraj Shetty & Sangeetha Shetty of Sharjah along with 50 other members of UAE Bunts whose efforts were highly witnessed with the successful pooja organised and concluded.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Home / by Shodhan Prasad , pics by Ashok Belman (Gulf Kannadiga) / October 21st, 2012

My latest experiment with quinoa – quinoa akki roti. I tried this recipe by making quinoa flour in the blender. Then I added a little rice flour and proceeded the same way as the regular akki roti by add the onions, grated carrots, cilantro, curry leaves in the dough.

Ingredients:
Quinoa flour – 2 cups
Rice flour – 1/2 cups
Carrot – 1 small grated
Onion – 1 medium chopped
Curry leaves – 2 strings
Coriander leaves – 4 tbsp chopped
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Green chillies – 2 chopped
Salt to taste
Olive oil – few tsp to cook

Hot boiling water – to mix

Method:
1. Mix quinoa and rice flour with grated carrots, chopped onion, chopped curry leaves, corriander leaves, cumin seeds, chopped green chillies, chopped and salt.
2. Add just enough boiling water to this and knead.
3. Make it to tennis size balls.
4. Flatten the dough on a plastic sheet with your hand
5. Gently transfer the flattened roti to a cast iron griddle or skillet
6. Add a tsp of olive oil around it and cover it
7. Cook on medium flame till done
8. Serve with chutney.

source: http://www.rice-n-spice.blogspot.in / by Nutan Dodbele / September 28th, 2012

Kingdom of Bahrain, 20 May 2012:

The Basava Samiti Bahrain organize ’Basava Jayanti-2012’ in the Kingdom of Bahrain with immense enthusiasm and devotion in Ban Sang Thai Restaurant hall recently.

An inaugural welcome with ’mangala kalasa’ and ’tal maddale’ was followed by Basava pooja and prayer with traditional Bharatnatya welcome dance by Basava samiti juniors. Introductory welcome speech was given by Samiti general secretary Shashikala Kallyyanamath.

The famous speaker and master comedian Indumati salimath was invited as chief guest and well-known playback singer Pandit Ravindra Sorganvi, accompanied by renowned tabla player Pandit Satish Hampiholi were invited as guest artistes from Karnataka.

Basava Samiti Bahrain headed by U H Neelkantha as honorary president honoured the chief guests and guest artistes. Shivakumar Kallayyanamath, Ravishankar, Gangadhar Nagthan, R M Patil and Kannada Sangha Bahrain president Rajkumar were the chief guests on the occasion.

Basava Samiti members presented a ’Karnataka Janapada Darshan’, a colourful folk dance choreographed by Raghuram and Praveen Konanje, which included men, women and children performing Dollu Kunita, Kamasale,Yakshagana, Kolata, Kodava Nrutya and Suggi Kunita. The 300-plus audience had a were taken into a different world with the performance. A brief note on the dance was given by Kiran Girish.

The magical voice of Sorganvi and tabla pandit Hampiholi’s flawless beats enthralled the crowd with a lot of devotional, classical, folk and stage-play music. The depth and perfection of Sorganvi’s golden voice impressed the audience.

Indumati Salimath took over to present a string of laughter, message of Basava and advice on healthy social life.

On the successful completion of 30 years of Delta Construction Company, the Basava Samiti Bahrian honoured the dynamic entrepreneur U H Neelakantha as ’Kayaka Yogi’. Sanjay Palled, Shivakumar Kallayyanamath, Shekahr Koppad and Samiti executive committee did the honours.

Neelakantha shared his practical experiences with the gathered audience. He has been a role model for the young generation. He believed in sincere work and supports many charity activities and cultural events in Bahrain.

Shivanand Patil compered the programme, which ended with a vote of thanks by Samiti general secretary and a community dinner.

source: http://www.BelleVision.com / Home> News / by Joel D’Sa / BelleVision Media Network / May 20th, 2012

Indian women set the stage alight with a resplendent show of India’s national costume – as members of the royal family, businesswomen and the diplomatic community gathered to admire the weaves and styles of the traditional unstitched garment at India House in Saar.

The special event was entitled simply Saree and organised by the Indian ambassador’s wife, Mala Kumar. It was part of the Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Jusoor programme aimed at helping to familiarise the wives of diplomats with the different cultural traditions found on the island.

More than 50 ladies attended the event including Shaikha Wesal Al Khalifa, wife of Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Angela Fakhro, wife of the Industry and Commerce Minister, Dr Hassan Fakhro, the Jusoor committee and its members, and the wives of various country ambassadors.

Mrs Kumar said: “This event is just the beginning of many such programmes to showcase India’s amazing culture. India has so much to offer and the Jusoor programme gave me one such opportunity to show it.

“I chose the saree because it is timeless and goes to show that we can preserve our tradition despite modernisation. The people of India have preserved their roots but embraced progress and development in a harmonious way.”

The highlight of the morning was the appearance of nine beautifully-clad ladies who represented different styles of draping the saree from various regions of the country. Their walk and costumes were choreographed by Suvasini Srinivas, a Kathak and Bharatanatyam dancer.

The guests were also treated to a lavish display of traditional and modern sarees from various parts of the sub-continent, courtesy of Lulu, alongside a spread of Indian delicacies.

Meera Ravi, editor of Salaam Bahrain magazine, told the story of the saree and revealed that there were more than 109 ways of draping a saree – a fact unknown to most Indians in the audience!

She said: “The word saree originates from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘unstitched strip of cloth’. Of course, we have so many stitched accessories to go with it today – the petticoat and the blouse, which can cost as much as the saree.

“Every region in India has a special way to drape a saree. The weave and design is a language of its own which changes from village to village and from town to town. Indeed, a saree is a visiting card and a history lesson rolled into one!”
The ‘models’ were led by Deepa Chandran, from the state of Kerala, who draped her classic cream and gold ‘set mundu’ in a conventional style. With flowers in her hair and bedecked with gold jewellery, she carried a traditional brass lamp that represents the southern-most Indian state known for its greenery and Ayurvedic massages.

Sarju Arpit Panchal, from the state of Gujarat, followed with a resplendent blue bandhini (tie and dye) silk saree complete with embroidery and mirror work. The saree draped in the front showed off its beautiful border and Sarju topped it off with typical Gujarati accessories in her hair, plus necklaces and bangles.

The journey then took the audiences to the state of Assam in the eastern part of India and Pinky Sharma displayed her state’s attire – a two-piece ‘mekhla chador’, an off-white hand-embroidered silk cloth, where the lower part of the body is draped in a sarong-style cloth and the upper part with a shawl worn saree-style with a matching blouse.

The length of a normal saree that you would buy anywhere is six yards but the traditional Maharashtrian and Tamil Nadu Brahmin woman wear a nine-yard saree for special occasions.

Shama Kolhatkar, a Maharashtrian, displayed the comfortable-style of wearing a Nav-vari saree, which was also used by the ‘lady warriors’ of this state when riding a horse. Shama matched her attire with jewellery worn during weddings and at special religious functions.

Hamsini Krishnan, from Tamil Nadu, wore a saree in the auspicious maroon colour and showed how women in her state drape the nine-yards in what is called the ‘Madisar way’. Her long plait covered with strands of flowers and special ornaments adorning her head is typical of a Brahmin bride in her community.

The state of Bengal was represented by Bhavya Rajith, who draped her red and white silk saree in a classic Bengali-style. It stands apart from the crowd for the unique way of hanging a silver key chain at the end of her ‘pallu’ or loose end of the saree.

She was followed by Priya Shyam who donned an emerald green Benarasi silk saree worn by the women in Uttar Pradesh. A Benarasi silk saree is treasured by families for its glossy silk and silver and gold zari brocade and is worn with the upper half brought over the left shoulder and draped over the head.

With a brilliant orange and wide green border, Chitra Sinha wore a Kanjeevaram saree in the style of a Madurai flower-seller and completed her look with her hair set in a bun to a side and bead and gold necklaces around her neck.

The last model was elegant Deepa Devnarayanan wearing her saree in the style of the Kodagu women, from the coffee plantations and hills of Coorg, near Karnataka. It is completely different from other regions because the pleats are formed and tucked at the back rather than in the front.

The event concluded with Milena Padula, wife of the Italian Ambassador Enrico Padula, volunteering to get draped in a saree and walking around in it for the rest of the afternoon. Despite tip-toeing cautiously through the hallway she claimed to be ‘completely comfortable’ and said it would not be her last time in a saree.

source: http://www.GulfWeeklyWorldwide.com / Local News / by Anasuya Kesavan / February 01-07th, 2012 (Vol.10, Issue No. 57)