Ananda Sangbad
October 2013
15
COMMUNITY NEWS Kallol Corner
ICC Corner
Reported By Debahuti Roy
Reported By Soumyendra Seal
Ma Durga is coming!. This is the time of the year every Bengali looks forward to. Nostalgia fills the air.....Mahalaya, Saptami, Astami, Navami, Dasami.....
ICC represented INDIA at the Garden State International Heritage Festival, organized by the North Jersey Arts and Science Charter Schools and New Jersey Charter School Association. This event was held on Saturday June 8, 2013, at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, in the presence of many dignitaries from the state and school boards. This was a very good opportunity for our kids to participate in a multicultural event and represent the country.
We at Kallol are the busiest at this time of the year. Our biggest event is round the corner - Oct 11, 12, 13, 2013. As in the past several years, the venue is Ukranian Center. In the following week, on Saturday, October 19, we will have the grand finale of this year's puja celebrations, with Lakshmi Puja. This year Rupankar, Sandipan Samajpati, Jasraj (Saregama winner), Suchismita and others have been confirmed as the artists in the Performing Arts Category. Bengalis love to eat. Keeping that in mind, we have made some interesting changes in our food menu. We say to all our members and puja guests - come and figure it out. The executive committee is busy, shuttling between conference calls, meetings and making necessary arrangements to make the celebrations go smoothly. The discussions are intense with lots of excitement. Puja registrations will begin soon; so check out the kallol website @ kallol.us. We have a basket of choices - 3 day registrations, daily registration or you can be a donor / patron. Come and enjoy the puja with us and be a part of our Kallol family.
NJPA Corner Reported By Kankana Sengupta
A number of ICC members and their kids manned the country booth and presented India's rich cultural heritage. The booth displayed an array of handicrafts from all over India, while an audio visual presentation, provided important information about the country. Many children and their parents stopped at the booth to take notes (and stamp their 'passports'). At the end of the program, ICC Kids presented two short programs. Ten year old, Monisha Nath performed a selfchoreographed Odissi dance based on a Rabindra Sangeet. This was followed by a concert with Sourin Seal singing a traditional Hindi song, accompanied by Sourav Seal on the Harmonium, Unmukt Gupta on the Sitar and Nitant Gupta on the Tabla. Portia and Prithibir Sarkar presented the two programs. The ICC Annual picnic was held on Saturday, July 20th between 11am and 5 pm at our regular venue at the Loantaka Park South Street Recreation Area situated at 480 South St, Morristown, NJ. The weather turned out to be ideal for an outdoor picnic, and the seventy odd participants thoroughly enjoyed the day. A slight breeze continuously blew which not only helped cool the atmosphere, but also helped in raking the fire pits for the barbeque. All attendees were greeted with snacks which consisted of 'Jhaal Muri', barbequed vegetables and corn, chicken hot dogs and Tandoori chicken, with a choice of hot and cold refreshments. The park has a very beautiful trail meandering through the woods, lake and other manicured open spaces. Many of the attendees strolled around to enjoy the scenery. The adjoining field provided an opportunity for others to try their skills in a game of soccer, while a few people tried their hands in flying kites. Children participated in the "Musical Chairs" and "Lemon Race" games, with prizes being awarded for the winners and the runner-ups. Token gifts were also presented to some of the senior members, in recognition for their past and continued support to the organization. Delicious Goat curry, prepared by former President - Prabir Sarkar, was the highlight of the dinner which everyone thoroughly relished! Dessert consisting of fruits, cake and ice cream was served at the end of the event. With the end of summer, the ICC executive committee, with the help of many of its members, is very busy preparing for the 2013 Durga Puja which will be held on October 5th and 6th. Robi O Nobin, a renowned band from Kolkata, featuring Soumitra Ray and Robin Lai from 'Bhoomi', will be the main attraction for the event. They will be performing exclusively for ICC in the NY-NJ-CT tristate area during this Puja. More details of all the above events may also be found at the ICC website www.icc-gs.org.
Done well, modern picnics are deeply civilized, stylish affairs. So throw in a little music, plenty of food, friends and family, and forget your work worries for one whole perfect (God willing) summer day. That was exactly the case on August 10th of this year when NJPA held its annual picnic at Woodlot Park in Kendall Park which was geared to provide an experience for the whole family. You can't beat a sunny, balmy afternoon laid out on the grass with the aroma of sizzling sausages and chicken on the grill, a good old game of volleyball and cricket, kids running around, blasting music, mosquito bites, scratched knees, what else do you need to make it perfect? NJPA will be celebrating Kali Puja on Saturday, 26th October and the puja will be followed by delicious food and entertainment. There is a plan for an exciting cultural program with some top class artists either on Kalipuja evening or at a separate date. The final program will be announced shortly. We will also be ushering in the New Year with a gala celebration on December 31st. So please mark your calendars. Venue for both will be decided soon. We hope that you will join us in the celebration. Please check out our website at http://njpa.net for past and upcoming events or connect with us on Facebook (NJPA Parivar
Community News Continued from page 14
Alolika Mukherjee's colorful depiction of Bengali immigrant life in several books and in many literary publications from Kolkata such as Desh, Bartaman and Krittibas. To recognize her contributions as an author and as a "literary ambassador" of the immigrant Bengalis, Bengal Foundation of America of Princeton, NJ, organized a civic felicitation for her on July 27 and presented her with a certificate of appreciation.
I wish all readers a wonderful Fall Season and all the very best during the upcoming Festivities.
News You May Have Missed! CME Group Awards Salman Khan, Founder of Khan Academy, the 2013 Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award CHICAGO, Sept. 10, 2013 - CME Group's Center for Innovation today announced that Salman Khan is the 2013 CME Group Melamed-Arditti Innovation Award recipient. Khan is the founder of the Khan Academy, a free online education platform and not-for-profit organization. CME Group will present the award at the sixth annual Global Financial Leadership Conference in Naples, Florida on Tuesday, November 19. Khan, a Bangladeshi-American, educated in MIT and Harvard Business School, began distributing his tutorials on YouTube in 2006. In 2009, the Khan Academy received the Microsoft Tech Award for education, and in 2010, Google provided $2 million to support the creation of more courses and enable the Khan Academy to translate its core library into the world's most widely spoken languages. Khan Academy has now produced more than 4,300 videos on a wide variety of subjects, mainly focusing on math and science, which have garnered more than 300 million views.
Announcement Ananda Mandir's Food Drive Ananda Mandir Humanitarian Committee is appealing to you for Food Donation for the Somerset Food Bank. We plan to donate about 100 pounds of food to the Food Bank during Thanksgiving time. Please donate canned nonperishable foods like vegetables, rice, pasta, canned pasta sauce, and soup cans. There will be collection boxes both in Temple and in the Community center. Please donate generously. When you are coming to the Temple you can bring one or two cans any time and drop it off. Please help those who really needs help. NO GLASS JARS PLEASE! Please contact Krishna Dutta Roy, Chair, Humanitarian Committee (732-390-8069)