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Somerset Bengali Association A Non-Pro it New Jersey Corporation www.somersetbengalis.org Vol. 5 - Annual Magazine EDITOR Sangeeta Bhattacharya
CONTENTS
Welcome to the 2013 Puja .............. Scandalous Sandy ................................. Happiest Place in the World ............ The Siege on Avanti ............................. My Memories of 2012 ......................... Hurricane Sandy ................................... Hope(less) ............................................... Our Saraswati Puja .............................. Spring is Coming ................................... Pretty Winter ......................................... The Young Sargent ............................... Diwali ........................................................ Super Storm Sandy .............................. Dancing with our Local Stars ........... Cultural Program Schedule ............... Children’s Song Group ........................ Future Artist Gallery ........................... Soccer Field ............................................. Christmas Eve ........................................ Hurricane Craziness ........................... Branch Blowout .................................... Swim Fast ................................................ Natok Group ........................................... A Small Room ......................................... Adventure of Lampkin ...................... Young Musicians Ensemble ............ Save our Endangered Friends ......... Indian National Census ......................
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COVER ART
Saraswati patron saint of art, literature, culture and talent - A digital composition by Bridgewater Graphics designer Nina Ray
Welcome to the 2013 Saraswati Puja of the Somerset Bengali Association. On behalf of SBA, we welcome you to the 6th annual Saraswati pujo. This event would not have been possible without the support of our guests, participants and sponsors. Thank you all for coming tonight and joining a !ine and fun-loving organization. You may have joined SBA for various reasons, either to have a good time with friends, to meet new people, or to have a relaxed evening. Whatever your reasons may be, we would love for you to go home with a warm feeling in your heart. Tonight, we encourage you to introduce yourself and establish lasting relationships with new people. In the beginning, SBA’s goal was to introduce our kids to the memories of the Saraswati pujos we grew up with in Kolkata. We know that we have succeeded, when we see that our kids all share a strong bond with one another. The secret to SBA’s growth lies completely in the personal touch we offer to our members. You are part of SBA family. Over the last !ive years, SBA members have not only grown in numbers, but in memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. Unfortunately, not all went well this year. We lost two of our very close friends this year. Sarbashis Ghosh and Tarun Ghose were two engaging members of our tight-knit community. They contributed to the success of this organization from the very !irst day. We miss their absence tremendously tonight. In the midst of these heart breaking events, SBA families stood by and embraced their families with deepest sympathy. Also, an epic storm Sandy hit us this year. During the long power outage, !looding in the basement, trees hanging on the roof, SBA families opened up their arms, and helped each other for days. It was one of the most devastating acts of nature witnessed by NJ , ever. Not surprisingly, the aftermath of Sandy, touched the hearts of our young children, as re!lected in their articles this year. To continue our dream, SBA needs more enthusiastic members, like you, who can lead, volunteer, and add new dimensions to our original goal. We would like to see you become part of us by stepping up and taking charge. You'll be glad you did! We hope you will remember this special evening by making new friends, enjoying the cultural program and satisfying your appetite with delicious dishes. Let us conclude by wishing you all an enjoyable evening – and requesting your continued support for all upcoming events. Please visit our website and we are on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=132216136801243
Board of Trustees -
Satabdi Choudhury Mausumi Majumdar Joyjit Kundu Amit Ray Kallol Ghosh Sanchoy Das Email: somersetbengalis@gmail.com 3
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Somerset Bengali Association Saraswati Puja - February 2013 Of(iciating Priest: Arijit Chatterjee Event Manager: Kallol Ghosh, Puja Arrangements: Lopa Das, Parna Kundu, Sumita Dhara Cultural Committee: Mausumi Majumdar, Aparajita Ray, Malini Mazumdar, Amit Ray, Satabdi Choudhury Food Committee: Sanchoy Das, Nazneen Rahim, Suparna Das, Saurav Ghosh, Ashish Das Nabanita Chakraborty, Anupam Saha, Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay, Sumit Sen Finance: Joyjit Kundu, Sanchoy Das, Sudip Chakraborty Guest Relations & Registration: Somesh Choudhury, Saurav Ghosh, Kallol Ghosh Facilities Management: Somesh Choudhury, Probir Dhara, Dipak Roy, Subrata Roy, Prasun Chowdhury, Sumit Sen
Diwali Party - November 2012 Event Manager: Amit Ray
Thanks to the many volunteers who made these events a success
Grand Patrons We would like to thank the following individuals for their sponsorship of the 2013 Saraswati Puja
Sumit & Sharmistha Sen Amit & Aparajita Ray Archan & Reetika Misra Santosh & Ambalika Mukherjee Tamal Majumdar Saurav & Sharmila Ghosh Sudakshina Ghosh Sanchoy & Rajyasri Das Sudip & Nabanita Chakraborty Arijit & Baishali Chatterjee Somesh & Satabdi Choudhury
Subrata & Reena Roy Anup & Soma Rakhit Somnath & Nazneen Mitra Krishnenedu & Sangeeta Mukhopadhyay Joyjit & Parna Kundu Kallol & Parna Ghosh Sudip & Parijat Ghatak Raja & Mausumi Das Prasun & Manjari Chowdhury George & Molly Abraham
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Scandalous Sandy - Shruti Roy “I’m scared,” I whispered, my voice eerily high. The lights !lickered for a frightening moment, and then all was black. Pitch black. I huddled with my mom, dad, and sister while Sandy made the house crack and groan all around us. I felt blind, blind as a colicky horse. It was pitch black, and our heater didn’t work, so I was chilled to the bone. I felt around, feeling, feeling for something that would give me warmth – and hope. Hope that everything would be okay when it was all over. The power outage had somehow made my dad think. He was folding his arms like he does when he’s concentrating. Lightning crackled outside, and a huge BOOM of thunder rattled through the house. My dad opened his mouth as if to say something, but a look that said “no way!” from my mom closed it. An abrupt CRASH sent my heart jolting. We scrambled to the window, trying to see what had caused the disturbance. As we gazed out the window, we saw destruction. The tree from next door, about 50 feet tall, had fallen over. Our deck had barely missed being crushed. “That does it,” my dad declared. “Thanks to Prashanthi who offered us to stay in her house, we will go there,” said my mom. “We’re going to Aditi’s house,” I thought. Maybe some luck had passed my way after all. “Yes!” I whispered. I scrambled to pack everything I would need at Aditi’s house. Diving into the car, I dragged my bag with me, ready for whatever came next. The rain pounded down on , as I struggled into Aditi’s house sopping wet. But it was worth it, as I was somewhere with light, heat, my friends and family. I lay down my sleeping bag, staring up at the ceiling. My mind played back to that treacherous time. I shivered as I thought of the freezing cold rain. I hoped it wouldn’t happen again. Right now though, I was happy to be safe at last.
Happiest Place in the World - Prajit Kundu Have you ever been to the happiest place in the world? (By the way, it’s Disney World.) Well I have! Disney World is packed with stuff for everyone in the family, old or young. There are four amazing parks: Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot - all packed with enjoyable rides, games, and characters. We !irst went to Magic Kingdom for two days. We did most of the rides the !irst day. My favorite ride was Splash Mountain where you go on a water ride while you learn the story of Brer Rabbit and you drop down with the last drop being a 50 foot drop. I loved how the air came rushing to meet my face when we dropped. The next ride we went to was Space Mountain which is a fast roller coaster in the dark with sudden drops and fast turns. It was so fast that I had to hold on to my glasses and I felt like I would go !lying out of my seat any second. My sister went with my mom to meet the princesses while my dad and I played a game called Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. You go all over Magic Kingdom and !ind portals and !ight villains with spell cards. At Hollywood Studios we went on a ride called Star Tours which was a simulator that makes you feel like you are in a Star Wars spaceship. I liked how it actually felt like the images on the screen were real. The Indiana Jones Stunt Show was really cool and I liked the cool stunts and the explosions. Fantasmic was a laser effect show and I liked the huge dragon. Animal Kingdom was a lot of fun. The Kilimanjaro Safari was very fun and I liked seeing all the different types of animals. Festival of the Lion King was a cool live show with all sorts of exciting things like a guy who swallowed !ire. Most of the costumes had bright, festive colors. At Epcot we went to the World Showcase which is a place where you go see things from all the countries. We went to rides in the other part of Epcot. My favorite ride was the simulator Mission Space. In Spaceship Earth you get to see how people have changed their thinking over the years. It was cool how that they predicted your future from your answers to questions. Soarin’ was a ride that lifted you in front of a giant screen and it actually felt like I was gliding over California. Living with the Land was a boat ride that showed how people help the environment. I thought that the green house was cool and I liked how they grew plants and used !ish and eels to help. So now you know why I liked Disney World and you can agree, it sounds fun. So get up, pack your bags and set course for Disney World in Orlando, Florida. A magical land and loads of fun awaits you. 7
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The Siege on Avanti - Prasun Chowdhury Somadeva was deeply contemplating his next move. He is under attack down the middle. His Queen is virtually trapped. Somadeva knew that Chattila is a seasoned chess player. He realized that he was in deep trouble. Outside the room, a platoon of soldiers was stationed on the terrace of the fortress. The scrubby vegetation expanded all the way to the horizon. The fortress has been under siege for the last four months and still there is no sign of an end. The mighty army of the rampaging Shambhuji was on a roll. During the last year, they have already overrun seven kingdoms and have now set their eye now on the prosperous kingdom of Avanti. Somadeva has been apprehensive of this since the time he heard the news that Shambhuji's army has steam rolled the kingdom of Nambul. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before the huge army of Shambhuji appears at his fortress. After consultations with his council of ministers, he gave orders to start stocking up on grains and essentials. However, these can only last for a limited time. Somadeva remembered that it was the !irst day of Spring. The men and the women had all gone to the park to celebrate. Just after sunset, the warning bells started ringing. Somadeva looked at the horizon. He could see dust swirling all over the !ields. It was looking like an army of ants. Somadeva immediately knew that they were in trouble. He ordered the sentries to shut the main gate. The soldiers started taking up strategic positions. Since that day, the army of Shambhuji has sealed off the fortress. They knew that Avanti's resources would taper off and Somadeva would be forced to surrender or face an unequal battle in which Somadeva is bound to lose. The people of Avanti initially went about with their daily routine in high spirits. But slowly as the months went by and the resources started dwindling, their spirits started to !lag. Somadeva knew that time was running out. He had to do something. Somadeva and Chattila grew up together. Chess was a passion for them. From the day the royal tutor Vikram taught them how to play chess, they were into it. They would play and play until it was late. Even after they grew up, they would manage to sneak in a game or two almost every day. It was almost dark outside. Somadeva was getting restless. He had been trying to defend against Chattila's relentless attack on his citadel. He was not getting any breathing space. He could not initiate any attack. All his moves were merely defending against fresh onslaughts. He knew Chattila will not rest until he corners his King. Suddenly, his attention was riveted on the two Knights waiting on the !lank. He !igured out that he could launch a counter attack on Chattila using the Knights. While Chattila builds up the pressure down the middle, he needs only to avert a checkmate. He will focus on trying to storm Chattila's defenses down the !lanks. Without any words, Somadeva stood up. He put on his armor and rushed outside to mount his favorite horse. As Chattila saw Somadeva gallop away and leave the fortress via the secret tunnel, a smile appeared on Chattila's face. He now exactly knew what to do.
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My Memories of 2012 - Atreyee Ghosh In 2012 I had some good memories and some bad. Some were funny, and some were sad. But the best thing is that it’s a brand new year and I would like to spread some cheer!! Keeping the happy memories and putting the sadness behind... let’s say Hakuna Matata to begin this year! The year begun with my most favorite event of the year - the Saraswati Puja. We had so much fun getting together at rehearsals and then the grand !inale. What a great time and memory to keep. Soon July 4th rolled by… BOOM! CRASH! BOOM! The !ireworks burst into the sky. I love wearing my Indian out!its and visit Ma Durga, endless playing and fun with friends. Wasn’t Diwali an excellent get together with all of us making and decorating diyas? And the beaches…splash!!! Riding the waves was fun although they threw me against the sandy shore. What a lovely trip I had in Turkey, Greece, and Quebec City with my friends! Even though it was “Turkey-Frying” hot in Turkey & Greece and the steep cobbled roads in Quebec left my legs aching, my friends, the great food and the amazing sites made the trips worthwhile! Oh and did I mention my grandparents visit last summer… making my summer vacation extra special. The year was cruising away when hurricane Sandy hit us in a fearsome way! The hurricane destroyed the NJ shore and left lot of people homeless and without power! The Atlantic shore line was washed away! Then there were days that just didn’t go right, like when we didn’t get to do the annual picnic and when we lost some loved ones. With this mixed bag of memories, I hope my bag is more !illed with happy ones this year and the years to come.
Hurricane Sandy - Prajit Kundu Rain came pelting down on the roof and leaves banged against the window blown by the howling wind. Watching TV, my sister sat calmly but I could feel her tense with every wind gust. Moments later came a sound louder than a T.rex with a sharp bone in its foot. ”What was that?” my sister asked with a shaky voice. I really don’t like loud sounds. I !ind them hurtful to the ear. So when I heard the sound I groaned. My sister asked what the sound was again and I !igured that she wouldn’t stop asking until she got an answer. ”It’s just the storm door,” I replied. “The annoying storm door,” I added to myself. A sharp crack disturbed my thoughts. The lights !lickered as if in response. “What was that?” I asked. As soon as the words left my mouth I knew the answer: a tree. But I pushed the thought aside and said “It was just my mom cutting vegetables.” This time a series of cracks came and then a louder one. The lights must have !lickered ten times. I went to see what happened and I froze. The tree had cracks running all over the thick bark, creating an interesting pattern. Unfortunately, what happened next was not as nice. The tree came hurtling down and took a chunk of our porch and fell to the ground with a jarring CRASH!! This also left the rest of our porch crumbling and unstable. The piece of the fallen porch sprayed bits of crushed concrete against the window and they bounced off loudly but harmlessly. I stood there staring at the wreckage for what felt like ages. My parents came rushing downstairs, glanced at the wreckage, and pulled me away. The next morning when I looked out the window, I saw a world of destruction. Trees were everywhere - in houses, crushing cars, lying on the ground. Shingles littered the street and some cars were !lipped over. Our house was untouched except for our porch which had completely crumbled. I prayed there wouldn’t be a storm this bad in a long time and with that thought, I went downstairs. When I arrived in the kitchen, my mom was on the phone. She quickly hung up and said “Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes.” After a delicious breakfast of Belgian waf!les and maple syrup, my mom !illed me in on the latest events. “Some of our friends have lost power so it’s cold in their house,” my mom said. “That’s why I invited them over to stay until the power comes back.” My friends arrived as soon as the trucks were out of view. “Perfect timing,” I told them. My best friend Shreyas said “You are so lucky to still have power.” We started the “sleepover” by playing “20 Questions” which is a game where you have to !igure out what the other person is thinking using 20 or less yes or no questions. Then we had a cup stacking tournament. Then our tastiest game: we had to use a straw to pick up as many M&Ms as we could before time ran out. My mom made fresh chocolate chip cookies while we were playing. We saw the impact Hurricane Sandy had caused on innocent people. Many people had lost power, cars, homes, or lots of personal belongings. It would not be easy coming back from the storm but we knew that there was still hope if we all worked together. 11
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Hope(less) Rini Bhattacharyya Hope: seeing their enemies drop dead to the ground, not a breath of life in them Hopeless: realizing that for every enemy soldier that falls, ten noble ones go down with him Hope: meeting a soldier, who is willing to die to save their life Hopeless: knowing that the next BOOM! might be his last Hope: Fills those who stand alone, like air !ills a balloon, the knowledge that this battle of con!licting forces will soon come to an end is like a gift on Christmas morning; it’s Hope. Hopeless: Makes it seem as if the world is a tornado of despair, dying to suck them in, watching bodies brutally burn, makes it all seem never ending; it’s Hopeless. Hope: seeing the horde of busses, determined to take them away Hopeless: facing the fact that they won’t be riding away on one, not now or ever Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen Hopeless is accepting that it never will (Based on the Genocide in Darfur, Sudan)
Our Saraswati Puja - Aditi Roy I await the excitement all year, People coming from far and near, Everyone is a busy bee, Everywhere there is so much to see, Practice makes perfect - that is all you hear, While running around from here to there, A lot of the excitement is your clothing, With zippers and buttons there is so much fussing, When you get on stage you look nervously at the crowd, But at the end of your performance you feel so very proud, Even though the year is boring, This part is so exciting! 12
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Pretty Winter Shreya Ghosh
Spring is coming Hiya Khan
The biting winds make me shake, Spring is coming! Spring is coming! What goodies is it bringing?
As the snow!lakes settle on the lake. Pretty pretty winter, don’t be late
Days get longer, nights get shorter, I can play outside with my brother.
Down the hills we love to skate.
Spring is warm, !lowers will bloom,
We’ll make snowmen all day long,
I will soon say goodbye to winter's gloom.
With holiday cheer, lights and song. Merry merry winter come each year, With Santa’s presents far and near.
The Young Sergeant - Shreyan Das One night, in a city where crimes lurked on streets and apartments, inside sinister hearts and even in small, remote places on the Internet, there was a boy living in a small condo near the town square. This 11year-old boy was no ordinary 6th grader. He actually didn’t have a grade number, because he was homeschooled and !inished studies last year. He already worked for the Middleton Internet Security Protection Force, or MISPF for short. And the phone call that he was about to receive would change his life…. “Bbrinng! BBRINNG!” Gabriel’s cell phone boisterously awakened him like an annoying chimpanzee. He programmed his phone to give off a hologram when MISPF called. He jumped out of bed and answered the phone. “What?” he answered sleepily. “Chief Brian Daniels here,” a gruff voice said, “, we have an emergency. Reilly O’Reilly, a man who was bailed from jail last year, is trying to sell the Emerald of Middleton ONLINE!” Gabriel gasped. ”I’ll be at headquarters in 5 minutes!” he answered, and hung up. Gabriel was the lead engineer in MISPF. His programming was always saving the city. His best friend Nick is also on the team, but he’s 27 years old, so sometimes he doesn’t get his jokes. At MISPF headquarters, the whole team was typing up a storm, trying to black out BuyersLink.com, the place where the Emerald of Middleton was being sold. And there was already one customer for the paradisiacal emerald. “Hey guys,” Gabriel burst into the computer of!ice. “Hi,” Nick answered.” did you bring any of your amazing gizmos to black out this site, BuyersLink.com?” “Uh……,”he mumbled while rummaging around in his backpack. ”, got it!” It was a blackout device in which he invented a way to black out a certain site. “Wow. Gabriel, I hereby pronounce you as Sergeant Gabriel Hemmings. Good work.” the chief said of!icially. The new sergeant was thrilled. He was the youngest person ever to be a sergeant! As he installed the blackout device, he jumped up and down with excitement knowing that he was probably the smartest kid in the world. After returning home the next morning after Reilly O’Reilly’s trial because of selling the emerald, Gabriel excitedly told his mother that he was a sergeant of the MISPF, and the youngest one ever. “It feels so good to !inally accomplish my goal!” exclaimed Gabriel as he stared at his accomplishment form. “Now it’s time to go all the way to Chief Gabriel!” Gabriel yelled. He realized being gifted could go a long way, a really long way. 15
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Diwali - Rishika Roy We celebrate Diwali which is a special holiday for me. We go to the temple on Diwali. Diwali is the only time I get to do !ireworks, and that time I have a lot of fun. Diwali is the festival of lights and I put candles and diyas around the house. Some people do Rangoli for Diwali but I am not one of them who does Rangoli, but I really wish I could. On Diwali we meet a lot of friends and greet each other. On Diwali I spend a lot of time with my family. On Diwali we eat a lot of good food and sweets.
Super Storm Sandy - Shreya Ghosh My mom always tells me that we're very lucky to have a lot of things that many people don't have...like a house, a car, food, water, clothes, schools and teachers, good friends, and family who love us all the time. Sometimes I believe her and sometimes I don't. I feel very lucky when I see pictures on the internet, of people suffering from the damages of natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes. One such natural disaster that we faced in 2012 was hurricane Sandy. The super storm Sandy destroyed a lot of houses in New Jersey and New York! Some people were very scared including me and my grandma. My mom kept telling me that everything would be !ine and it was, in the end. Did you know that this hurricane has beaten the U.S.A.'s long time record of hurricanes? Over one hundred homes were destroyed in a !ire following the storm in Breezy Point, N.Y. The hardest hit areas were Coney island of Brooklyn, New York, Staten Island, N.Y., Hoboken, N.J., Queens, New York, Long Port, N.J., Rockaway, Queens, Long Beach, and Sea Bright, N.J. The airports and, train and bus services were disrupted. The tunnels were !looded with water. There was a fuel spill in the "Port of New York and New Jersey" in Staten Island on the Friday during the week of the storm. Coney Island's New York aquarium was out of electricity, and !looded. It had to relocate some of its 12,000 creatures including walruses, sharks, sea turtles, penguins and a giant octopus. Utility vehicles and crews from California were !lown in on Air Force Air Mobility command to help restore the electrical system shut down by the super storm Sandy. I was very scared during the storm. The winds were howling loudly and banging on the doors as if they wanted to break them down and blow everything away. There were all kinds of banging and loud noises outside and it seemed that the walls of the house would tear. I was really frightened. I didn't want to get up and go anywhere. I was afraid that we would lose electricity and it would be very dark. The roof was making noises too, it was very scary. We ate dinner quickly. I was so scared that I couldn't even read a book after dinner. I had a dif!icult time falling asleep and held my mom’s hand tightly as I shut my eyes and tried to get the noisy storm out of my head. When I woke up next morning, it was all over but we had lost electricity. I went to my friends’ (Trisha and Trina) house for a play date and stayed with them till Friday of that week. It was a lot of fun. My mom told me later that having a power outage (of which I had been so scared) had led to a fun four days of no school and playing with friends. She said that’s how scary events can sometimes turn into wonderful things. That is why, she said, we should not fear anything. But that is hard to do. I’m glad that my home was !ine and all my friends and family were safe. My mom and I donated money to American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and American Humane Association. We helped people and many kinds of animals by donating money. We were very lucky that Camp Bow Wow had electricity and took our dog Sandi in and gave her shelter when she needed them the most. A lot of animals were not as lucky and got separated from their family and had to be rescued from the storm and !loods. I felt very sad for them. So we donated the most money to the animal society. I hoped that all the people affected by the storm could get back to leading normal lives soon. 16
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Dancing with Our Local Stars
Dance Group #1: Rhythms of Life - Sunrita Mitra
Dance Group #2: Rhythms of Dance & Music - Mitra Purkayastha 18
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Dance Group #3: Vasantotsav – An Invocation of Spring - Debolina Sanyal Saraswati Puja or Vasanta Panchami, marks the turn of the season from winter into spring, in India. Along with the worship of Ma Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning and the Arts, the season of spring is actively welcomed by the Devi’s legions of followers, young and old in a variety of spring festival traditions across different regions in India. The Saraswati Puja celebration in New Jersey takes place annually in the dead of winter – in many instances perhaps, even in the coldest week of the season! Nevertheless, the local Bridgewater community’s residents remain undaunted in their desire to invoke Devi Saraswati into not only blessing their endeavors in academics, art, music and dance, but also to summon warmth, color and vigor to melt away the frozen stillness of winter. The idea of Vasantotsav (Spring Festival) represented by a medley of dances from various spring festival traditions around India was simple enough. However, not content with simply engaging the participants in a typical production where they are told what to do and when, our endeavor has been to involve the participants in all aspects of the production. We have spent time together discussing and selecting music of different tempos, in painting and crafting together props, in set design and execution, in encouraging dancers and non-dancers alike of all ages, and in incorporating classical, folk and contemporary traditions into a production that went beyond simply putting on a dance performance. The children explored the variety of props used in the performance, asked questions about why and what each of them represented, and contributed ideas of their own to improve the choreography! We have endeavored to make the collective times we spent together on winter weekends in December and January, in between swim meets, music lessons and a variety of other commitments, count towards building an organic production which we can distinctively call our own and that we and our children will retain fond memories of, when remembering the traditions of their own spring celebrations in years to come. Putting together this Vasantotsav has truly been a pleasure! Thank you SBA! 19
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Saraswati Puja 2013 Cultural Program Schedule Time: 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School, Bridgewater, NJ 4.00
Welcome Announcement
Prasun Chowdhury, Soma Choudhury & Ranjana Sanyal
4:05
Rhythms of Dance and Music
RDM Stars: Upasana Banerjee, Ananya Mukherjee, Arunima Paul, Mina Stalhamer, Vedika Sengar, Sreejani Sinha, Anika Shankar, Saraswati Mukherjee,
RDM’s junior group - the RDM Stars, Rdm Dynamites, RDM Jewels, RDM Blossoms proudly presents NIRMALYA an offering in strict ODISSI repertoire, choreographed by Padmashri , Sangeet Natak Academy award winner Guru Muralidhar Majhi and Mitra Purkayastha
RDM Jewels: Trisha Ghosh, Ria Mukhopadhyay, Arushi Bhatia, Portia Sarkar, Pramila Baisya, Niska Abraham RDM Blossoms: Natasha Mohanty, Akansha Acharya, Shilpa Mitra, Nishna Singh, Shikha Chivakula, RDM Dynamites: Anwesha Mishra, Shreya Ghosh, Trina Ghosh, Sunaya Dasgupta Mueller, Monisha Nath
4:30
Announcements
SBA Board of Trustees: Soma Choudhury
4:35
Bangla Struti Natok - Kreme Kreme Prasthan Written By: Banani Mukharjee Direction: Rina Roy Music: Joydeep Bandhopadhay Shruti natok is a drama without makeup, costumes, etc. It is done mainly by voice modulations. This comedy is about an arranged marriage where the groom's party came to seek the hand of the bride, who is not ready for this proposal.
CAST: Buiya (Bride's elder sister) - Parna Ghosh Chuia (Bride) - Chandrima Bandhopadhay Bride's mother - Rina Roy Champa (House maid) - Sudipta Chatterjee Ginni (Groom's mother) - Suparna Das Bauma (Groom’s sister-in-law) - Sangeeta Bhattacharya
5:10
Vasantotsav - An Invocation of Spring Choreographed by: Debolina Sanyal Narration by: Shakuntala Sanyal A medley of dances from various spring festival traditions across India.
Participants: Aditi Roy, Rishika Roy, Shruti Roy, Atreyee Ghosh, Trina Ghosh, Trisha Ghosh, Prisha Ghosh, Ria Mukhopadhyay, Nishka Abraham, Ananya Sanyal, Hiya Khan, Pranita Kundu, Priyanka Chatterjee, Rashi Roy, Aditi Dhara, Roshni Dutta, Sonchari Mukherjee, Parna Kundu, Prashanthi Ramarapu, Devi Mukherjee, Sanjeeta Mukherjee, Koel Chatterjee, Sharmila Ghosh, Molly Choudhury, Mausumi Majumdar, Debolina Sanyal 20
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5:45
Children’s Songs Conductor: Soma Choudhury & Malini Mazumdar
Participants: Abheek Dhara, Aditi Roy, Atreyee Ghosh, Prajit Kundu, Prisha Ghosh, Ria Mukhopadhyay, Rishika Roy, Shruti Roy, Shreya Ghosh, Shounak Ghosh, Hiya Khan, Pranita Kundu, Aditi Dhara, Nishka Abraham, Rashi Roy, Abheek Dhara, Ayank Maiti, Priyanka Chatterjee, Rishit Roy, Atreyi Sanyal
6:00
Recognition of Sponsors
Platinum Sponsor: Collabera Gold Sponsor: Emirates Airline Silver Sponsors: NYLife, Wells Fargo Bank, NCG
6:10
Young Musicians’ Ensemble Conductor: Amit Ray
Ensemble: Anudeep Akenapalli (tabla), Omkar Bhawmik (drums), Sompurna Chowdhury (!lute), Rohit Das (synth), Souvik Ganguly (guitar), Alex Kosnik (bass), Rounak Mukhopadhyay (violin), Prashanti Roy (sitar), Nina Ray (viola), Nikita Roy (violin), Sunith Roy (tanpura), Trina Sanyal (vocals)
6: 35 Rhythms of Life: Kabhie Kabhie & the Seaside Jam Choreographed by: Sunrita Mitra Tribute to Yash Chopra - the quintessential 'Har ek pal ka romantic' of Indian cinema. The thrilling proximity of music and dance, the almost unreal visual sensuousness, technical radiance and stylistic polish will remind you 'Jo bhi hay Bas ek yehi pal hay' 7:00
Dinner Break
8:30
Modern Songs - Feature Artist
10:00 Closing Remarks
Participants: Samantha Hasan, Samiha Hasan, Disha Bhowmik, Samara Mowla,Taniya Banerjee, Riya Banerjee, Hanvita Mutyala, Srihita Jagarlamudi, Ramona Chatterjee, Sanjana Gupta, Taniya Joseph, Helen Joseph, Sohini Bhattacharya, Ramyani Mitra, Samiyah Syed, Atreyee Ghosh, Esha Ray, Ishana Basu, Tanzil Salekin, Ankita Chatterjee
Vishal Bhalla and Band Semi Finalist – Zee TV Saregamapa USA Thank you and Recognition to Directors and Guest Artist.
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Meet the most enthusiastic faces of the program!
Children’s Song Group - Soma Choudhury & Malini Mazumdar I (Soma) have been teaching group songs to the kids for the last three years, and among all my activities throughout the year, there is no doubt this is the most rewarding task of all. Every year I cannot wait to meet the new innocent sweet faces who are ready to take the challenge without any fear. Challenge of learning new songs without knowing the language or meaning of most of the words, several pages of memorization and of course the unfamiliarity of the song itself – are not that easy for such young age. If any of you have attended the practice you would wonder what attracts them to this practice every Sunday so religiously! Is it the brownies, munchkins, cupcakes, or the hide and seek and playtime? Whatever the reason is, the truth is I cannot wait for the Sundays too – just like them. Their giggles are simply contagious. However, with this few songs, my goal is to share with them few pieces of our childhood – memory of their parent’s childhood. Probably they will not remember these songs after few months, but I am sure they will never forget the memory they created during these fun practices. Along with the sweet taste of brownies, I am sure they will always cherish the bond of friendship they have created during this practice. Over the past few months I (Malini) have become an integral part of the SBA family and the best part has been teaching music to the little kids. All their excited giggles, funny little mistakes reminds me of my childhood. It has given me tremendous satisfaction to see them memorize the songs and perform energetically. What more can be asked from these little kids! Hats off to their parents for their relentless dedication though I am pretty sure the "adda", the brownies, munchkin and cookies post rehearsal, have been a major source of inspiration. I am already feeling sad that soon this will get over. However equally excited I am to see them perform. 23
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Soccer Field - Avik Sanyal
Future Artist Gallery
I see the crowd in the stands.
Flowers - Ananya Sanyal
I hear the chanting from the fans. I feel the ball in my hand at the sideline. I watch the ball soar past the goalie as I shoot into the back of the net. I taste victory after a win. I knew I would not lose.
Beach Scene - Shounak Ghosh
Christmas Eve - Abheek Dhara Cold Happy Really fun In the month of December Santa comes Time to celebrate Mostly white A very special holiday Snowball >ights
Rainbow Family - Prisha Ghosh
Every year Very cozy Elaborate dinner
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Hurricane Craziness - Ria Mukhopadhyay “Dad are you crazy?!” I exclaimed. The wind was howling but my dad still opened the door just to take a picture. A huge gust of chilly wind burst into our lit up house almost knocking me and my dad over. I knew something horrible was going to happen and like most of the time I was right. Right before my dad set foot outside the lights !lickered endlessly. I was scared but apparently my dad wasn’t. He just proceeded outside calmly with a bright smile on his face. My dad takes amazing pictures of nature. If he started you can’t stop him, and that was the case right now. My dad took many photos but then I heard a faint howling sound. “ Dad are you sure you want to stay outside?” But my dad wasn’t listening he was mumbling something about the awesome graphics this new camera of his had. I heard the howling sound get louder. “Dad your camera is going to !ly away!” My dad just chuckled. Then an ear piercing howl burst into our house. The chandelier swayed back and forth making an attempt to fall while outside my dads camera !lew out of his hands. I was still in shock when I realized that my dad was calling my name. “what” I replied as I saw my dad smile and hold up his camera. I smiled back when I also saw that the chandelier slowly stopped swaying. Then I gazed at my dad and saw he was alright, our house was not damaged, and I knew I was ok. I remember all the damage that happened and the people who lost their homes. The devastation was horrible. As the days went on I learned how to help people. I also learned most importantly to trust my dad. So everyday I hear the howling wind I will remember all the valuable lessons I learned that day.
Branch Blowout - Avik Sanyal On the night of Hurricane Sandy, my family was all prepared for the storm. The next morning I was the !irst person up in my family. I went to the front door and I saw a branch the size of on and a half chalk boards on the power line. When this years snowstorm hit, an evergreen tree from our neighbor’s property fell onto the downed power line. The branch and the tree both fell while I was asleep. When I saw the branch on the power line, I felt like we would have no power for 10-15 weeks. When I saw the tree on the power line, I was so thankful that the tree was about 1ft. 3 in. away from the power line. Luckily we did NOT lose power. Later on my dad told me that the T.V and internet power line snapped. Two days later we got our T.V and internet back. During the storm about 30-50 people came over to charge their phone, have some heat, have light, and the kids played on the Wii. Also during the storm I realized that if you have power and other people don’t, you should help them out like letting them come over to do laundry or watch the news. Halloween in our town was moved and then moved again and again until !inally Halloween was canceled.
Swim Fast - Trina Ghosh Swimming is my most favorite sport. I can swim all day and all night long and even swim in my sleep. I started swimming when I was 3 years old. My daddy took me swimming to Bridgewater YMCA since I was a toddler. I played with rubber ducks, !ishes and noodles in the kiddie pool. I learn how to do a water somersault. It was really fun. This year is my !irst year in swim team. I swim for the SVY-Bronze1 team. We go for swims meets and invitational meets. We went to Trenton, Princeton, Rutgers to attend meets with other teams. My favorite stroke is Butter!ly and my least favorite is breaststroke. Backstroke is my second favorite stroke and then freestyle. My coach’s name is Tim Dry. He teaches me the swim techniques and trains me to improve my speed. Sometimes he tells us funny ways of learning swimming. Once he told me to keep a cup on my head for back stroke so that I could keep my head straight! I have loved swimming since I started playing in water. I want to continue this sport for a long long time. This is my most loved hobby. Being a swimmer sometimes can be very hard work because you are not allowed to do any less but your best! 27
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Natok Group: Kreme Kreme Prasthan - Directed by Rina Roy We as well as most of our fellow Bengalis might agree that we take pride in indulging ourselves in good literary creations whether it is in the form of books, poems or other such forms as a drama. We try to keep our passion alive away from home, Saraswati Pujo being one of our platforms to showcase our fervor. It indeed was a daunting task to select the right story for this event, along with the selection of the cast. We selected a comedy drama to give us some respite from our daily monotony and struggle. Despite of our busy schedules, we managed to work out a time for rehearsal and in doing so we enjoyed the quality time together accompanied with tea and snacks. It was also our immense pleasure and also we were very fortunate, that we got to pick a play written by Banani Mukherjee who also stays for a few months each year in Bridgewater. She was kind enough to devote some of her time to guide us in directing this drama for us. Hope you all enjoy this presentation.
A Small Room - Trisha Ghosh “Owww” Sara screeched when someone pushed her into the water fountain and her feet kicked open a !lap under the fountain. She watched a light appear from the !lap. She called her friend Sam to see. Sara was a tall girl with black hair and brown eyes. She always tied her hair back and loved the graf!iti sweater. Sam was also tall but she had brown hair and blue eyes. Sam never went anywhere without her backpack or her lucky pencil. “It’s too small for both of us” Sara pointed out. Sam took her backpack and slammed the wall around it and the wall crumbled and fell. They went in and saw “mini people” painting, designing and living in a room the width a piano and the height of a couch. “Let me help you” Sam said to a “mini person” named Mary and she painted the entire room blue in 10 minutes. Sara made and designed the furnishings of the room in 15 minutes. Sara and Sam observed how they lived like humans but are only 6 inches tall. Mary’s friend Angelina went to the garbage shoot and came back with a handful of veggies that students throw away. Another “mini person” named John took a plastic cup and !illed it up with water every hour at the water fountain. To make clothing they cut up jackets and sweatshirts and stitched them up to !it them. As entertainment they performed for each other, they sing and dance and occasionally created a play. The “mini people” lived so peacefully that Sara wondered if humans can live that way too. Sara and Sam were so amazed at the little creatures hard work. Their experience was so wonderful it was almost fantasy. Mary, Angelina and John were grateful enough to give them a small necklace to say thank you but Sara and Sam never saw them again. 29
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The Adventurous Adventure of Lampkin - Sompurna Choudhury How did I get myself into this?! This de!initely wasn’t in our training. I sat there dripping water on the clean cutting board, preparing for my death. As the shining sharp blade was pulled out of the drawer, I saw the last few days !lash in front of me. It all started with that announcement 3 days ago. “Alright my fellow pumpkins! We are the survivors of Halloween! We were lucky that no greedy human wanted to cut our insides out and carve silly faces into us. However, Thanksgiving is coming up and our farmer wants to sell off all of us. So today you will be learning how to transform into other objects to avoid being made into food that the fat humans want to eat!” announced the head pumpkin of our pumpkin patch. “Move to any station now!”. I quickly found some of my friends and hurried over to a station. There was a sign hanging over the entrance, saying Household Items. Having no idea what that meant, we entered, not knowing what to expect. When we came out hours later, it was almost night and the last rays of the sun were disappearing over the horizon. I now knew how to turn into lamp! “Guys lets practice!” suggested one of the other pumpkins. We all chanted the magic words as soft as a feather hitting the ground, and just like that we became different objects! As I turned into a lamp, I watched my friends turn into brooms, rugs, picture frames, and much more. Transforming felt like 1000 butter!lies !lew out of my stomach at once and I was dropped into a pit of cement. Since we couldn’t move when we were transformed, the six of us changed back to normal orange pumpkins, and scurried to home to show our parents. The next morning, a heavy looking human came to pick a pumpkin. She was clearly stupid since she picked a pumpkin as big as me for the small pie she told the farmer she wanted to bake. So with a !inal nod to all the other pumpkins, I was shoved into a plastic bag to go home with the unintelligent chubby human. Going home with a dumb human is considered good luck, and in my case it was. At least it started out that way. When we !inally arrived at the humans dwelling, she grabbed my bag and waddled in. For some unknown reason, she set me down on the table in the foyer and then hobbled back to her car. The sound of the engine told me she was leaving again, so I knew I had enough time to transform into a lamp, and be forgotten. “Turn me into a lamp so I won’t be eaten for Thanksgiving,” I muttered under my breath. One moment I was an ordinary pumpkin, and the next I was a pumpkin lamp! My body became shiny orange glass and my stem grew taller to hold my green lamp shade. The only way to know I wasn’t a real lamp was that I didn’t have a light bulb or power source. Not that it mattered since the unintelligent human wouldn’t !ind out anyways. So there I sat, on the table and waited for the dull human to come home and !ind her pumpkin missing. Soon enough I heard a loud car engine pull up to the house, but it wasn’t the obese human. In came her tall skinny and wise looking husband. The moment he entered, he came over to scrutinize me. “When did this get here?” he thought aloud. “And what kind of lamp doesn’t have a light bulb socket or cord?” Oh no...he’s on to me... I panicked. I clearly hadn’t thought this out well enough, since I had no idea what would happen to me now. The man sighed, “Another one of those shrewd marketers must have somehow sold her this. She’s always buying stupid things.” Suddenly, he put his frail hands on my smooth sides, and lifted me up! “To the dumps you go.” Before I realized what was happening to me, I was face down in a black garbage, squished up against some egg shells and an empty cereal box. There was no way to see outside, but the loud cricket chirping told me it was late evening. Not wanting to shatter from the pressure of all the garbage, I transformed back into a sturdy pumpkin. Several boring hours later, I heard the morning cries of birds, but they were gradually drowned out by a deafening truck engine and shouting. It was garbage day! Moments later, the garbage can was suddenly jolted up and !lipped over, dumping me and all the other contents into a big pit of garbage. Luckily, we were the last house and I ended up on top, so I didn’t break. The ride to the dump was quick, and I was relieved to !inally see the sun again. At least no fat human can eat me now, I rejoiced in my head. But again, I was wrong. (Continued on page 33) 30
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Young Musicians Ensemble - Directed by Amit Ray Save our Endangered friends, Chimpanzees - Sunit Chakraborty Please help save our endangered friends, the Chimpanzees. Are you wondering why? Let me give you three important reasons why we should save chimpanzees‌ I am sure that you will be willing to help. Chimps are endangered due to global warming, getting killed by poachers and they are our closest animal friend, sharing similar traits to us. Chimps are getting affected by the global warming. We should take care of our earth, which will not only help Chimps but other animals also. Factories release lot of chemicals and gas, which cause pollution and harm humans and animals, including chimps. The chimp population is going down not only because of pollution, but also because people are cutting down trees and destroying nature. They are cutting down trees for construction and to make houses, which is affecting Mother Nature. At this rate, one day many animals will become extinct. Many parts of the world, including America, have started re-planting trees and we should start doing globally. We also have to save Chimps from poachers, who are killing chimps mercilessly. They sell the dead animals to get money. I think it is wrong to value money over life, so we have to actively make them stop killing animals. Poachers also take baby chimps away from their mothers to sell them in zoos and other places. Chimps are very social, just like us, and like to stay in groups. They are also smart animals who can make and use tools, like humans. Chimps communicate to each other using sounds and share strong bonding between themselves. I remember watching a video once where chimps learned how to make tools using a stick to pick up ants from holes, which they couldn’t reach otherwise. It was interesting to watch them behave just like us. Since the population of chimps is shrinking, we can help to save them. I hope that now you can help save their lives, so that our dear animal friend can live with us freely. 31
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Adventure of Lampkin - (Continued from page 30): Another day and night !lew by. I fortunately managed to move to the edge where I could rest on the grass, so the life in the dump wasn’t as horrible as I imagined. But just as I started thinking that I could die a peaceful, natural death here, I was snatched up by a human again! However, he wasn’t plump like the others. In fact he was so skinny his ragged clothes hung off his body and his beard seemed bigger than him. He was a hobo! At !irst, I was captivated by this slender human, until I realized that he would probably eat me. But then an unexpected thing happened. The hobo carried me into a building !illed with other hobos! As he hurried towards a set of doors in the back, I managed to get a glimpse at all the other people in the room. There were several humans, some in families and some alone, dressed in dirty rags. They were gathered around tables, scar!ing down a small meal like a lion eating a deer. “I have another pumpkin! That makes seven pumpkins which is enough to make pie for Thanksgiving right?” announced the person who carried me. A cheer from others made me nervous. Then I was taken by others, being gently washed in the sink, and I became aware of the fact I was about to turn into a pie. WAIT I’M BEING COOKED?! I started to panic. I can’t believe I had been through everything that happened in the past two days just to be cooked anyways. So I sat there dripping water on the cutting board, preparing for my death. I could see the sharp knife coming towards me, and I knew there was nothing I could do to save myself. But just as I was about to be cut open, I heard the cook say something to the hobo that completely changed how I felt about becoming a pie. “You did a great thing bringing this pumpkin here. Now we have enough to feed all the poor homeless families a slice of pie on Thanksgiving. I cannot wait to see the smiles on those children’s faces!” That was when I suddenly realized that by becoming a pie, is not that bad, or humiliating after all! I was feeding hundreds of humans that aren’t fat and greedy. These people couldn’t afford their own Thanksgiving dinner, but I could be part of the small meal they would receive on this special occasion. So in the last moments of my life, I felt pride in myself for dying for a good cause. 33
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Indian National Census 2011 - Shakuntala Choudhury Introduction: India National Census: population goes up to 1.21 billion Census has been conducted in India since 1872 and the 15th Census 2011 marks the !irst time biometric information was collected. Indian population increased to 1.21 billion with a decadal growth of 17.64%. Adult literacy rate increased to 74.04% with a decadal growth of 9.21%. The demographics of India are inclusive of the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people (2011 census), more than a sixth of the world's population. Already containing 17.5% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing China, its population reaching 1.6 billion by 2050. The annual population growth rate is 1.41%, ranking 93rd in the world. India has more than 50% of its population below the POPULATION age of 25 and more than 65% hovers below the age of 35. It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China and 48 for Japan; and, by 2030, India's dependency ratio should be just over LITERACY 0.4. Uttar Pradesh remains its most populous state, with 199 million people.
Total
1,210,193,422
Males
623,724,248
Females
586,469,174
Total
74.04%
Males
82.14%
Females
65.46%
Facts and Figures about the sex ratio or POPULATION DENSITY per km2 Female-to-Male ratio GENDER RATIO 1000 males The census also reveals a continuing preference for CHILD GENDER RATIO boys - India's sex ratio is at its worst since independence 1000 males was 933 in 2001 and in 2011, 940 – a slight improvement. Female feticide is said to be there in India, although sexselective abortion based on ultrasound scans is illegal. Sons are still seen by many as wage-earners for the future.
382 940 females 914 females
Key Initiatives: Population Statistics and Poverty challenge: Half a dollar a day is “adequate” for an Indian villager to spend on food, education and health, the country’s main planning body has said. A fresh look is being given to this. There are various estimates of the exact number of poor in India. Of!icially, 37% of India's 1.21 Billion people live below the poverty line. The Government of India has set up Millennium Development Goals (MDG) as follows, these are numerical targets that are time bound in order to measure development as laid down by the UN. The goals and the indicators are as follows : i. MMR (Maternal Mortality Ratio) ii. IMR (Infant Mortality Rate) iii. U5MR (Under 5 Mortality Rate)
109 28 42
MMR is the number of women aged 15-49 years dying due to maternal causes per 1 lakh live births). Only states that have reached MDG goals are Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra while Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat and Haryana are in close proximity to achieve MDG target for MMR. IMR measures the number of infant (of age <1 year) deaths per 1000 live births. At present, INDIA’s IMR is 50 against MDG of 28. Of the states, Kerala (12) & Tamil Nadu (28) have achieved MDG target, while Delhi (33), West Bengal (33) and Maharashtra (31) are in close proximity. 34
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