The Damas Youth Forum (DYF) today culminated its 25 years of inception with a mega program aimed at showcasing indigenous games, Garo culture as well as providing a stage for budding rock stars from the region.
The event today was held in Damas village in North Garo Hills with Bajengdoba MLA, Pongseng Marak as the chief guest and local MDC, Pardinand D Shira as the guest of honour.
While the day did not see much of a crowd come, the evening saw the venue filled to the brim with rock bands ensuring the crowds forgot the winter chill. The biggest attraction for the rock stage was veteran rockstar, Browny Marak (Riprap) enthralling the crowds.
“This event is the culmination of our 25 years of inception as an NGO. We are celebrating today the contributions of the founding members whose work touched so many lives. We also remember all those that contributed to making our area a better place,” said president of DYF, John Navy G Momin.
Momin added that the event wanted to showcase indigenous games of the Garos as it was now one of the last bastions for such acts.
“Our indigenous games are fading due to a lack of promotion and we want to change that. We also want to highlight our culture to the world through this program. We also want to bring out the history of how our NGO was formed and its contribution to the local world,” said Momin.
He however lamented the lack of support for organising the event from government agencies which had no money to help them with, leading to the program being curtailed to just a day.
Sources added that the organizers approached the Sports, Arts and Culture as well as Tourism departments but returned empty handed on each occasion as the departments had no money.
“It’s surprising that they can spend crores on the Megong festival though they have nothing for a program that aims at promoting local culture and practises. This does not augur well for those trying to ensure our traditions live on,” added one of the organizers on the condition of anonymity.
DYF members, who held the festival after a gap of two years due to the pandemic, asserted that they would continue helping society, as has been the tradition of the NGO in the area.
