14 COMMUNITY
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Asian Voice | 20th May 2017
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LSU celebrates Rabindra Jayanti at Nehru Centre
Rupanjana Dutta
London Sharad Utsav (LSU) celebrated 156th birthday of Rabindranath Tagore at Nehru Centre, Mayfair London on 5 May with fervour. The members took initiative to participate in the programme, and created a beautiful collage of their talents. In each Tagore anniversary LSU selects a theme from the vast literary work of Tagore and this year’s being ‘Tagore the traveler.’ The songs and dances pivoted around this theme. LSU recalled how Tagore created a bigger meaning of spirituality and celebration of humanity with a physical feeling of journey. On behalf of LSU Amit Guha, Sandeep Mallick, Saikat Roychowdhury, Suranjan Som, Nripen Mondal, Sharmistha Guha, Tanusree Guha, Ranjana Banerjee, Nilanjana Nag sang for the occasion where as Bidisha Dutta, Sandhya Sen, Saheli Das Mondal, Esha Chakravarty performed the dances. Mr Piyas Barua assisted with his percussion and tabla Mr Anirban and Roychoudhury recited one of the memorable poems from Tagore. The whole programme was conducted
LSU Committee and members
with oration by Nirmal Nag and Sudeshna Som. LSU is committed to promote, practise and
show case Indian Bengali culture, values in London and UK. Tagore was a multi-faceted talent who
became the vanguard and thought leader of Bengal, India and global communi-
ty in 19th and 20th century. As part of the event LSU also arranged an exhibition of visual arts at Nehru Centre. LSU promoted art works of artists Mahua Bej, Shinjini Thakur and Ruby Bhattacharyya. These art works are based on modern Indian art and as well as traditional folk art like Madhubani art forms, Patachitra of Bengal etc. Minister (Economy) of the Indian High Commission Mr Saikat to UK, Sensharma and Patron of Asian Voice and Editor of Gujarat Samachar CB Patel graced the occasion as guests of honour. As per the continuity of LSU's commitment to Indian Bengali culture,
they have kicked off ‘Bengal Heritage Project’ (BHP) this year and Tagore anniversary celebration was also a part of it. This project aims to propagate cultural and intellectual heritage of Bengal in UK. As a part of this LSU has initiated construction of traditional idol of Goddess Durga for annual marquee event of Durga Puja worship. LSU is collaborating with the artisans of Bengal and aims to bring them in London to demonstrate the process of idol making. They will also going to have events to promote Bengali music, handicraft and mutual business interests of Bengal and UK.
Dance performance by the LSU members Art exhibition
The personal touch brings the sweet smell of success for Southall business
Smita Sarkar
Media Partner
“The more credit you give away, the more will come back to you. The more you help others, the more they will want to help you” are the wise words of Brian Tracy, a Canadian-born American motivational public speaker. This idea still holds true among Asian businesses in London, where conducting business with the heart, and not just the head continues to be a norm among the self-employed Asian youth. Recently, I was walking towards a stall selling Malai Kulfi (ice-cream) on a hot afternoon in Southall Broadway. The frozen delicacy was sorely tempting but I had run out of cash to buy it. My card was misreading so I couldn't withdraw money. It was then that 32year-old Rehaan Shahid asked for a Kulfi to be handed over to me, “abhi kha lein, paisa baad mein de dena”(eat it now since you feel like it; you can always pay back). I felt that I had to be honest and reiterated that I wasn't a local, I was only there on work, and had no idea when I would be back in the area to pay him, but he insisted that I take the kulfi irrespective. I felt guilty taking a favour from a stranger, but
having the exotic ice-cream on a hot afternoon along with the selfless gesture was rather hard to resist. I gave in and took the kulfi, promising to come back to pay him when I could. While I started eating it, I got chatting about his other business in perfumes or 'attar' while he chatted about my area of work. In a market-research kind of way, he asked what perfume I wear and what women like in offices, etc. With my limited knowledge in perfumes, I responded that I tended to prefer floral-based-mild perfumes. He attended to customers while talking with me and, while I was taking my leave, he handed me a bottle of the amazing 'attar' - to be considered a gift for visiting the area for the first time. This gesture truly touched my heart. On what had seemed an ordinary day, I had developed a mini friendship. I now knew how he had started the business, where he sourced his products, and we chat-
ted about our roots back in South Asia, our backgrounds and life in the capital. Born and brought up in P e r i v a l e , Middlesex Rehaan is a former cricketer who played professional cricket for Middlesex alongside players like Moeen Ali and Eowen Morgan. He got into the attar business by chance, and started his business with just £2000. He's especially happy about the fact that Asian people continue to use attar and, from an economic point of view, he monopolises the business at the Southall Broadway. It felt like being back home where one didn't mind a little chit-chat while conducting business. On an otherwise busy afternoon, it was a welcome change of pace accompanied with some warm smiles. There was no hard-selling and both the products were so good that I would go back to eat some more of the Malai Kulfi and buy a few bottles of attar for my family and friends. I left the stall having had a wonderful experience and with a feeling of wanting to get back again. Good business is where you make it and Rehaan knows how to treat his customers right.