By Irfan Bukhari
DOHA: Expatriates celebrated Eid Al Adha with full fervour across the city yesterday while Asian Town remained the hub of their festivities.
From Corniche to Mesaieed beach, from Al Khor park to Al Wakrah beach; everywhere there were people celebrating the occasion with traditional passion.
The Asian Town attracted huge crowds yesterday as two separate but parallel musical shows enthralled the gathering.
One event was open-for-all and had been organised by the Ministry of Interior while the second one was a commercial entertainment show held at amphitheatre starring Govinda and Rakhi Sawant.
Separately, the Ministry of Interior also organized a cultural event at Al Khor industrial area for expatriate communities, which drew huge crowds on the second day in a row.
“All expats from all the countries are doing good great job here in development of Qatar … I am more than happy to meet my people and my message on this holy festival is love for all,” said Rakhi Sawant while talking to The Peninsula.
Many companies provided buses to their workers for celebrating the gala with their community members. The marketing mangers of other companies were also there to distribute soft drinks for free to the people. Security at Asian Town had been beefed up to ensure smooth sailing of celebrations without any untoward incident.
Eid celebrations at Asian Town turned to be a display of interfaith harmony. “I am here to enjoy the holy festival of Muslims and these activities are very colorful and thrilling,” said Appiah Kwadwo from Ghana, a Christian by faith.
Expatriates from South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal were trying to bury their feelings of homesickness under loud music and incessant whistles from the passionate crowd.
“Whenever any song is sung in Malayalam language, homesickness captures me again. I am feeling joyous in this environment,” said Shabbir from Kerala.
Majidul Islam, a Bangladeshi expatriate said he was enjoying the event though homesickness was also there in his heart. “Nothing can beat the pleasure of celebrating Eid at home with family and intimate friends … but it is a good event,” he said.
Another expat from Pakistan, Naat Khan said: “The show is great … it is representing various cultures … to suppress my feelings of homesickness I have talked to my family seven times in these two Eid days.”
Nearby, at the amphitheatre, the crowd was waiting anxiously in long queues to secure a ticket of the concert in which Govinda and Rakhi Sawant had to perform.
The audience got frustrated when the stars did not appear till 9pm while the scheduled time was 7pm. Rakhi was welcomed with loud applause and claps when she reached at the stage while Govinda did not reach the venue till 10pm.
Rakhi Sawant’s dance somehow appealed the audience who had started expressing their anger over the poorly planned and executed show.
“I am performing first time in Qatar … some of my movies are in the pipeline including Naughty, Chandani Bar 2, Pakeeza 2,” Rakhi told The Peninsula, in brief remarks on the sidelines of the show.
