RIYADH — The Riyadh Odisha Socio-Cultural Association (ROSA) celebrated its sixth grand annual day here Friday to promote the culture, art and ethos of Odisha. The expatriates from the eastern state of India, Odisha, residing here organized the program, which comprised speeches, prizes, felicitations, raffle draw and cultural programs. The chief guest of the International Pravashi Odiya Programe is the pride of Odiya community and Utkal Jyoti, Dr. Dev Mohanty, a dedicated social activist and philanthropist of Odisha. Mohanty congratulated members of ROSA for serving the Odiya people, developing talents of young children and spreading the goodwill of Odisha in a foreign land. K. M. Abdul Azeez, principal of International Indian Public School, Riyadh, was the guest of honor at the function. In his welcome speech, ROSA's president Sisir Mundgave presented an overview of the aims and objectives of ROSA and explained the organization's mission to make Odisha visible to the rest of the world. ROSA advisor Mohammed Fazal Haque briefed the audience about the culture and traditions of Odisha. A special souvenir — designed and coordinated by ROSA advisor Mohammed Shamsher Ali — was released to commemorate the occasion. The lighting of the candle was coordinated by ROSA mentor Dr. Mahendra Patra. ROSA general gecretary Debasis Rout read out a report on the ROSA activities and the development of its website. Vice President Raziq Wakil offered the vote of thanks. The executive committee members and their families put in their best efforts to make the evening a memorable one. The program was anchored by ROSA's young girls' team — Zaib, Shafaq, Shikha and Punnam — under the able guidance of Bilquiss Ali. The central attraction of the event was a variety of cultural programs masterminded by the ROSA cultural secretaries Saroj Panigrahi, Azeemuddin and Patra. ROSA children and elders presented excellent dance performances, which were choreographed by Deepa Panigrahi, Bhavna Rout and Sampashree Mund. The cultural program was anchored by Mrs. Patra, Chandana, Bhavna, Hadubandhu and other young talents of ROSA. It was also well supported and anchored by Vivek and the TCS Engineers. The evening came to a close with the raffle draw co-hosted by Razik, Azeem and Ramjan Tarfdar followed by snacks and dinner, arranged by Vivek, Debashis, Kalim, Bhaskar, and Patra. — SG
