Dogra food cum culture festival instant hit in Delhi
Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan 19: First ever Dogra culture cum food festival was held here at Press Club of India (PCI) where different facets of Dogra culture and culinary art were on display.
The festival was inaugurated by former Union Minister Dr Karan Singh and attended by other prominent Dogra personalities, members of the community residing in the National Capital Region and members of the PCI and their families. The festival was jointly organised by PCI, Jammu Diary and International Dogra Association.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Singh traced the glorious history and traditions of the Dogras and laid stress to make all out efforts to protect Dogra culture and its rich heritage. In this connection he recollected how the State of Jammu and Kashmir came into being as result of great sacrifices made by Dogras. “We (Dogras) created the State and handed it over to you,” he said while making an oblique reference to current developments in new Union Territory.
Expressing concern that the new generations were not speaking or learning Dogri, he said that it is imperative for parents to ensure that children speak the language or else how could we talk of protecting the Dogra culture. “Every language has its own importance as Hindi is our national language and English has a bright international perspective but Dogri is our mother language,” he further said.
Dr Singh, who stayed all through the three-hour long programme that also witnessed a musical bonanza with rendition of Dogri songs and dances, regaled the audience with the singing of a ” Mata ki Behnt”. He also inaugurated the Dogri food stall by tasting ” Shuare Da Madra” a traditional Dogri sweet dish.
The cooks ( Sayans) had specially come from Jammu to cook items of Dogri cuisine which became an instant hit with the gathering.
Prominent Dogra personalities who attended the event and were later honoured by Dr Singh, included computer education pioneer and Chairman NIIT, Rajendra Pawar, who hails from Ambaran village; Director of Batra Group, Manik Batra, Dr M A Alim, another Director of Batra Group, Bisham Batra, senior advocate M K Bhardwaj; former Minister and senior BJP leader Sham Lal Sharma; Panthers Party patron, Prof Bhim Singh; Air Vice Marshal Rajeev Gandotra; veteran journalist Pushp Saraf; Medical Superintendent of RP Centre, AIIMS, Dr Shakti Gupta, noted Dogri singer Jatindra Singh, architect and hotelier Anil Badan and chairman of Jammu Diary Sugam Bral.
President PCI, Anand Sahay who felicitated Dr Karan Singh was also honoured by the latter along with former PCI Secretary General Anil Anand.
Jatindra Singh along with Radhika Chopra and young singer Urvashi sang Dogri songs while impressive dances on Dogri numbers were presented by Manju Wazir.
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