Tarangini Telugu Cultural Association, under the Guidance of The Indian High Commission, very kindly invited the Shia Imami Ismaili Council for Eastern Tanzania to participate in their cultural show to celebrate 67th Republic day of India, held on 31st January, 2016 at Julius Nyerere Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam. We felt very honoured, as an Ismaili community, to be invited to perform in such a high level event, amongst various other groups.
Nashila Khalfan, our famous choreographer, grabbed the opportunity with her group of ladies; Rozy Shivji, Rozmeen Esmail, Zahra Dawood Alibhai, Nazina Shariff, Nimet Murji, Zeenat Jaffer and Naina Vira to set the stage on fire. The group committed all their time and effort practicing seriously for two full weeks under the keen eyes of Nashila until the performance was ready to her satisfaction.
The theme of the performance was the happiness shown by murids during the visit of our Beloved Hazar Imam. It was portrayed in the form of garbo with the song “Dham Dham dhol baje…. Mara Mawla ni Padhramni”. The ladies looked beautiful in their red and black dresses dancing gracefully, with happiness evident on their faces as the audience applauded loudly during and after the performance.
During the various rehearsals and on the day, our group was very warmly welcomed by the event coordinator. We also got a chance to mingle with various other communities who were very supportive and friendly towards us. We have reciprocated in the same manner by inviting one of their groups to perform during Seniors Valentine Programme. This is in line with Mawlana Hazar Imam’s firmans emphasizing on building bridges with other communities and working together for betterment of Human society.
We were very happy to see Shabir Abji, Chairman of TADA (Tanzania Asian Development Association), as one of the dignitaries on the high table, looking proud and happy whilst watching our performance on the stage applauding throughout.
We sincerely thank the Eastern Council for giving us this opportunity to represent our culture to other communities, as well as Mukhi, Kamadia, Mukhiani and Kamadianimaa of Upanga Jamatkhana for allowing the usage of hall for our practices.