Kuwait: A Leap Into Fission 2008
Report by Gaspar Almeida
Photos by J.L. Rewon Gomes
Additional input: SPY
Courtesy
http://mangalorean.com/news.
'You are young only once, and if you work it right, once is enough.'
Kuwait October 15, 2008: The Salmiya Parish Youth (SPY) proved that once wasn't enough, so on 10th October 2008 they took yet another leap into Fission'2008 after its great success 2 years ago in 2006. The name fission signifies a dynamic celebration where all the youthful members and elements of the Salmiya Parish spilt to provide entertainment, music, games and culinary delicacies for an entire day. The Indian English Academy School (IEAS) was chosen as the official venue for the fete. It gathered over a 1000 people on a warm Friday afternoon and welcomed them to indulge in the fun and frolic.
The event was opened through a traditional ribbon cutting ceremony by Rev Frs. Thomas Chalissery and Lionel Braganza, Administrator of IEAS and the Youth Spiritual director, respectively. At the snip of the scissor, the ribbons set apart, balloons flew up in the air and SPY unveiled the FISSION logo, announcing the commencement of the event. The priests then said a short prayer to remind all the youth that they were the seed that would reap rich harvest through the grace and blessings of God.
The 25 different stalls were adorned with vibrant tie and dye cloth which along with the dancing helium balloons, striking banners and spray of confetti added a colorful ambience with a true festive and youthful spirit. The game stalls ranged from those that tested sporting skills such as "Tire Football" to the "Memory Game" that were meant to tease and tickle the grey cells. Kids were enticed by the Balloon princess who was prettied up in fascinating varieties of balloons to sell. Not forgetting the thrill of the "Trash n Treasure" stall, where for once children were rewarded for making a mess. The "Face Painting" stall located at one quite corner made a loud impressions by creating super heroes like Spiderman and Batman of the kids while the youngsters took every chance to sport that 'Forbidden Tattoo" on their arm or shoulder.
The music and dedication stall pumped up the volume with Desi beats from the latest in Bollywood to English tracks of non-stop Hip-Hop. The youth were spellbound by the endless list of songs to choose from and many dedicated songs apt for family, friends or that secret special someone.
The craziness of event was not just limited to the kids, but the adults too had their share of fun as they tried to snag instant spot prizes, called off numbers at the two sessions of housie, shopped at the "Brick a Brack" stall and tried to "Ring a Thing" or two to add to their household.
The long display of food along the Buffet table had mouth watering dishes from snacky items like sandwiches and pan rolls to main course meals of chicken biryani and mutton curry. These delicacies were laced with love as they were prepared by the families of SPY members and parishioners itself. Right from the making to the serving, mothers, aunts, sisters and friends worked tirelessly to ensure that everyone had their plate's share of the yummy food.
Every day brings in a moonlit night, and the "Fission'08 - Fete brought in a fluorescent lit 'Jam Session'. Shifting from the quadrangle to the basement, the crowd entered SPY's very own club zone where neon lights flashed across the room and a trendy ramp emerging from the main stage had MC's and musicians strutting their stuff. The 10 winners of the raffle draw were announced with the ultimate prize being 43 inch Sony plasma. Soon after, the D.J's in the house, Baine brothers Marlon and Brandon took the crowd through a journey of sound from House to Desi to retro to Arabia and lastly "Over the rainbow so high". Interspersed between the men on the mixer came the men on instruments, as SPY's very own band "B Maj 7" rocked the youth and had them going from feet tapping to head banging.
All this and only once, I don't think that's fair. SPY has seemed to replace the old adage with this new slogan that "Once is never enough". Yet another feather to their Hat…Fission'06…Fission '08….Fission'09? Watch out folks, fission has generated more energy than ever and SPY hasn't had enough yet.