The 152nd Janmathithi of Shree Guru Narayana Swamy was celebrated with utmost devotion by more than 600 persons who attended the function organized by the Billawas Dubai & Northern Emirates (formerly Billawa Balaga Dubai) in Dubai on 22nd September 2006 at Eat & Drink Party hall at Garhoud Dubai. Flowers , agarbatti and the devotional songs invoked a total devotional feeling in peoples mind as soon as they entered the hall. The program started with chanting of slokas by our members followed by singing of bhajans by Jabel Ali group comprising people from different castes and religion befitting the teaching of Shree Guru Narayana Swamy (One Cast, One Religion and One God). On this occasion our new banner containing pictures of billawa culture and traditions, was inaugurated by Mr. Shankar Poojary who was a founder member of Billawa Balaga in the year 1997. The pooja rituals were conducted by Purohit S.L.Rao who is well known for his way of performing pooja. In his own style he explained all the aspects of pooja and involved everyone gathered there. Initial pooja was performed by children, then by bachelors and lastly Durga pooja was peformed by 16 married women. We were very fortunate to have Mr. Vinaya Kumar Sorake (ex-MP of Lok Sabha and Member of AICC) alongwith his wife as a Special Guest on the occasion. Our Billawa friends from Billawa Balaga, Abu Dhabi have also attended the function in large numbers. Umesh Kuckian , President of Billawas Dubai welcomed all the guests and members and highlighted the objectives of Billawas Dubai & NE by emphasizing on providing financial assistance to the poor billawa students back home. Later on he invited the Special Guest and other guests to light the traditional lamp. The traditional lighting of lamp was performed by Mrs. & Mr. Vinaya Kumar Sorake, Mrs & Mr. Anup Kumar, Mr. Kishore Kotian (Executive Committee member ,Billawa Balaga Abu Dhabi) and Mrs Jayashree Sudhakar. On this auspicious occasion, a cheque for Rs. 1,38,000 (One lakh Thirty Eight Thousand) was handed over to Mrs Naina S. Kuckian (widow of Mr. Sumeet Kuckian, who died 3 months back due to heart attack) by Mr. Vinaya Kumar Sorake on behalf of Billawas Dubai. Another cheque for Rs 36,500 was given to Mr. Gopal Poojary, Kurkal, Udipi, considering his request for financial help towards the kidney treatment of Mrs. Shanta Poojary. This cheque was received by Vaman Poojary on their behalf from Mr. Vinaya Kumar Sorake. With these assistance, the total financial assistance provided by Billawas Dubai & NE since April, 2006 comes to Rs.2,85,950/- (Rs. Two lacs eighty five thousand and nine hundred fifty only). Mr. Sorake in his brief speech to the audience, appreciated the services rendered by Billawas Dubai & NE, in helping the less fortunate billawas and thanked Billawas Dubai for giving him an opportunity to attend Shree Narayan Guru Jayanti celebrations away from his motherland. Commenting on the Monetary help given to the widow of Sumeet Kuckian, he mentioned that he was destined to hand over this cheque to widow of his class mate Sumeet Kuckian and that he was present for his funeral as well by chance. Mangalarati was performed after the singing of some more bhajans by the the bhajana mandali from Jabel Ali. Once the pooja was over, people queued up for Prasad in an orderly manner and to seek blessings of Shri Narayan Guru Swami. Thereafter all the attendees enjoyed the delicious vegetarian lunch. The auspicious event was concluded after Mr. Satish Poojary , General Secretary thanked the Guests, all the participants, volunteers who have worked hard, and also our Billawa friends from Billawa Balaga Abu Dhabi who came to participate in such a large number. He also thanked Suresh Amin (Joint- Secretary) for arranging transportation. Special thanks and appreciation was given to Purohit S.L. Rao for performing the pooja by all members of the committee. All the attendees have opined that the event was truly grand success.

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