The Sinhala and Tamil New Year is a culturally significant festival for us Sri Lankans. Thus, new year celebrations and festivals are often held to spread the gaiety and festivity of the new year season. Rota Avurudu 2023 was thus, organized and held on the 25th of April 2023 by the Club Services avenue. It was the annual new year celebration of the Rotaract Club of Faculty of Science, University of Colombo.
The celebration initiated at about 9.00 a.m. in the morning along with the monthly General Meeting. An introductory session where the members of the club introduced themselves along with a fun fact about themselves was conducted since there were a few new additions to the club. Next the new year games which had been prepared were played. The very first game event played was, “placing the eye on the elephant”, which ended up being highly competitive where Rtr. Sanduni emerged as winner. Next up was the most anticipated game of musical chairs where everyone had fun dancing and pushing each other around with no hard feelings ending up with laughter and cheers to Rtr. Risini’s winning.
The Avurudu table was all set with scrumptious sweet-meats and drinks to feed the already hungry and tired rotaractors. The traditional oil lamp was lit followed by the merry chats while the kiribath, kavum, kokis and many other sweets were shared among everyone. After a hearty meal we celebrated the birthdays of 3 of our rotaractors with a surprise birthday cake which everyone had a bite from.
The most enjoyable event that was prepared was balloon catching, where balloons filled with water were passed among teams of two. The shrieks of joy and laughter could be heard far and wide with rotaractors feeling the heat a little less while being drenched with water. The game of “Pani Bambare” was the best of them all, as we all had a good laugh watching the participants stumble while trying to run in a straight path to become the winners.
The final and the most important event of Rota Avurudu 2023 was saved for last: the selection of the Avurudu kumariya and Avurudu kumaraya. The competition was tight giving the judges a hard time choosing among the handsome men and beautiful women who decided to participate. After a long discussion and a few talent shows the winners were announced. Rtr. Shenal, Rtr. Yowan and Rtr. Supul won 3rd place, 2nd place and 1st place respectively while Rtr. Asanki, Rtr. Ama and Rtr. Sithara was placed 3rd, 2nd and 1st respectively. A very enjoyable dance was performed by the winners led by Rtr. Supul while the Avurudu Kumaraya and Avurudu Kumariya were crowned with handmade crowns.
Thus, the most enjoyable Avurudu festival of the year came to an end with sad goodbyes and lingering laughter. It was truly an event filled with love and joy where everyone made unforgettable memories with their friends who are family. The pictures we captured will forever be a part of the best moments of our lives for sure!
By Rtr. Dinuvi Amithna
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