Paras Ra­moutar

Kendra Phag­wa 2013

An over­flow­ing as­sem­bly at­tend­ed the 22nd an­nu­al Kendra Phag­wa and Pichakaa­ree Fes­ti­val which was launched yes­ter­day at its head­quar­ters, Ra­goo­nanan Road, Long­denville.There were the tra­di­tion­al cer­e­monies to light the chul­haa (fire­side) on which the first abeer was boiled. The func­tion al­so fea­tured chow­tal singing and com­mu­ni­ty danc­ing by young men and women to start the 2013 Phag­wa sea­son.

"This pe­ri­od lead­ing up to the Phag­wa sea­son is called 'boil­ing the abeer' and singers and com­posers will start prepar­ing their lyrics and melodies for the Pichakaa­ree Qual­i­fy­ing Round on Sat­ur­day, March 16," said Gee­ta Vahi­ni, spir­i­tu­al leader of the Hin­du Prachar Kendra (HPK). There were al­so songs by Vee­jai Ramkissoon who pro­vid­ed vo­cals and har­mo­ni­um; San­jay Yankate­su (tabla and dho­lak) and Sunil Ramkissoon (dhan­tal).

Vahi­ni said that the an­nu­al fes­ti­val pro­vides a plat­form through the of­fer­ing of cre­ative ex­pres­sions in arts and cul­ture such as mu­sic, songs, dances, po­et­ry and paint­ings.Among those present yes­ter­day were Prof. Vi­jay Narayans­ingh; Dr Ka­mal Ram­per­sad and his wife, Ma­joie; De­ok­ien­anan Shar­ma, pres­i­dent of the Na­tion­al Coun­cil of In­di­an Cul­ture (NCIC), and Dr Beni Balka­ran.Vahi­ni said that this year's Pichakaa­ree con­test will be, "un­usu­al­ly stiff" and is ex­pect­ing sev­er­al new en­trants.