Aura ‘18 - Inaugural Dinner Dance of Kandy Girls’ High School OGA UK

By Menaka Senthil Kumar

Kandy Girls’ High School Old Girls’ Association UK (KGHS OGA UK) organised an inaugural Dinner & Dance “Aura ‘18” at Holiday Inn, Borehamwood on 10th February 2018. The grand event was well planned and executed successfully. It was a day the Old Girls of Kandy Girls’ High School in UK were eagerly waiting to enjoy with their family & friends and the response was proven with a brimming hall, decorated with exquisite ambiance.

The focus of the evening started off with the arrival of the Chief Guest, Mrs Malkanthi Abeygunasekara, Principal of Kandy Girls’ High School, who had arrived from Sri Lanka. A warm welcome was given to her with a traditional Kandyan Dance, an exemplary performance by girls with the lights. She was accompanied by the Guests of Honour, Mr Upul Ekanayake (Advisor of Dharmaraja College and Past President-Festival of Cricket 2015), Mr P Ketheeswaran, (Director Glenmore Properties & Finance) and Mrs S Nesarajah (Director-The Pines).

The event proceeded with a warm welcome address by Miss Dhammika Korakahagoda, the President of the Association. She expressed her sincere appreciation to all the Guests who had attended the occasion and conveyed her gratitude to the Committee Members who made the event possible within a very short period of three months. Singing the School Anthem was emotional and brought back sweet childhood memories for all.

Initially, Miss Korakahagoda started this Association with a handful of members. In a short period of time, she had managed to gather most of the past alumni of Kandy Girls’ High School who live in the UK. She managed to form an enthusiastic Committee to take forward the KGHS OGA UK to greater heights. The event’s turnout was around 250 plus Guests, which was a consequence of the hard work and dedication put into by the President and the Committee Members.

An extravagant atmosphere in the dance floor was the highlight of the evening with flamboyant Kashmi & the Team performing “Kandy Lamissi” backed by Kandyan Drumming beats and three Committee Members of KGHS OGA UK delivering spectacular dance to the tunes of “Mere Piya”. Popular band Frontline performed grooving classic tunes with Sri Lankan Baila Queen, Mariazelle Goonetileke. The crowd was drawn to join the dance floor, including the children enjoying themselves to the fullest.

Expectation and amusement spread among the crowd when the raffle tickets were drawn. People expressed their happiness during the announcement of winners, by raising sounds and applauding. To draw the curtain to the evening, Mrs Padmini Jeevanandan, Treasurer, delivered the vote of thanks with great happiness as the hard work and effort of everyone who had joined together to make this event a great success was accomplished.

AURA ‘18 was concluded with the Sri Lankan and British National Anthems, with an endless spirit and eagerness for the next event for the alumni of this distinguished Institution.

Photographs by Praneeth Hettiarachchi

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