Bijoya Celebrations in NJ with Anwesha

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She has already been tagged as the rising star of Indian playback and may hold the most expensive concert ticket next year.
Folks who attended NABC 2010 and left dazed by her singing prowess but still desired that she had sung those magical Hindi renditions of Lata, Asha, Shreya and Sunidhi numbers – the wait is over.

Anwesha will be back in NJ (only show in NY-NJ) to perform in a concert “Anwesha, Live in NJ” hosted by Que Zara Productions at the conveniently located North Brunswick School Auditorium (Exit 9 from NJ Turnpike and 40 minutes from NYC) on Oct 17, 4 ? 7 p.m.
From Salil Chowdhury, R.D.Burman, Shankar Mahadevan to her latest hits, she will enchant in a 3 hour musical concert. The sound engineering will be done by Jack Lowrie of Strike Sound.

She is coming in with Zee Bangla fame Trijoy and soulful Bandita along with five top notch musicians from the Indian film industry.

Tickets and Show Promo video: www.quezara.com

A special post concert elaborate dinner has been arranged by Moghul Caterers for the musical team. You may email Abhy – abhy_m@hotmail.com to purchase the VIP Dinner tickets or for any additional details.

You may like to get hold of your tickets which understandably are running fast.

Divyendu Sinha Murder Followup: Community Forum and Discussion

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PLEASE JOIN US FOR A COMMUNITY FORUM & DISCUSSION ON WORKING TOGETHER TO SECURE AND STRENGTHEN OUR COMMUNITIES

Date: Saturday, September 25, 2010

Time: 10:15am – 12:45pm

Where:
George Bush Senior Citizen Center
1 Old Bridge Plaza, Old Bridge, NJ 08857
Directions: www.oldbridge.com Ph: 732-721-5600

PART I
Bias Incidents and Hate Crimes:
How to identify and address them as a community?

PART II
Bridging the Gap:
How can community members collaborate with local law enforcement agencies
to enhance public safety?

RSVP preferred by Saturday, September18th, 2010 to
CitizensofOldBridge@gmail.com
Please indicate whether you would like an interpreter. Refreshments provided.

THIS EVENT IS ORGANIZED BY THE CITIZENS OF OLD BRIDGE (COBNJ), SOUTH ASIAN AMERICANS LEADING TOGETHER (SAALT) AND THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE COMMUNITY RELATIONS SERVICE IN COLLABORATION WITH OLD BRIDGE TOWNSHIP, MIDDLESEX COUNTY PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE, OLD BRIDGE POLICE DEPARTMENT, SOUTH ASIAN BAR ASSOCIATION NEW JERSEY (SABA-NJ), ASIAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND (AALDEF), MANAVI, THE SIKH COALITION AND INDIAN AMERICAN DEFENSE LEAGUE

Durga Puja 2010 : New Jersey Style

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The time of the year is here again. The sky is blue with patches of white clouds floating lazily and the weather is cooling down. Durga Puja is here again in New Jersey. The local Bengali associations are gearing up to welcome Ma Durga with the usual pomp and cultural extravaganza, and let me share with you some information about the festivities that has come to my notice.

Like previous years, Durga Puja festival in New Jersey will be heralded in by the live Mahishashura Mardini (Mahalaya) performance  at the Ananda Mandir on October 10th at 5.00am in the morning. I have been a regular attendee at this event, and I can promise you that if you can take that bold step of getting up from bed that early and drive down to Ananda Mandir, you’ll have an experience that you will never regret. Continue reading →

A Panel of Bengali Playwrights

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On August 10, 2010, at the Paschimbanga Bangla Academy, an interesting event took place along with my book launch ceremony. As a part of the book launch, Saptarshi Prakashan arranged for a discussion from a panel of contemporary playwrights which included Ujjal Chattopadhyay, Tirthankar Chanda, Sudipto Chatterjee and myself. The panel was moderated by Satya Bhaduri, the editor of the well known theater journal SAS. The topic of discussion was “Exchange of Ideas”. Ujjal and Tirthankar being Kolkata residents and both Sudipto and me being expatriates, the moderator essentially wanted  to get the panelists view point as to how contemporary Bengali playwrights, living all around the globe, can exchange their thoughts and ideas, discuss and debate their plays and finally produce plays that enrich Bengali theater on the whole. The panelists spoke about their own ideas and convictions which may not have found a perfect answer to Satya Bhaduri’s question, but it did raise some good issues that we the playwrights and theater lovers ought to ponder on. The following video clips from the panel discussion will give you a better understanding of the proceedings of that meeting. Enjoy and don’t forget to add your thoughts below as comments.

Continue reading →

Top Ten Requests from NABC Domestic Performers

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Few weeks ago I had written about the plight of domestic performers at the North America Bengali Conferences. I had also mentioned that the current CAB president Kajal Sarkar promised to look into this issue and try to resolve the matter in future NABC meets. He also asked the domestic performers to come up with a consolidated list of “10 most important things need to be implemented in future Banga Sammelan for performance related to local artists / groups”.  I volunteered to co-ordinate the effort and came up with a list based on inputs from several domestic performers at the NABC 2010. I would like to share the list with you all and maybe you can put in your comments too. I hope all Bengali organizations, who plan to host NABC in the future, would read this and take this as an important feedback from the local/domestic performers and groups. Continue reading →

Why a Book of Plays?

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Plays are meant to be staged. At least that’s what a playwright expects when he or she writes a play. A play or drama finds its fullest expression through the interpretations of its director and the actors. So what good is it to publish a book of plays?  Mostly people who produce, direct and act in plays are typically interested in the text of the play and hence would likely be interested in a book of plays.  Although it is true that some non-theater people do love to read plays just as much as some like to read stories and novels, but isn’t such a group a minority? Is it worth publishing a book for such a limited audience? These were the questions I was grappling with before I decided to go for a publication of an anthology of my plays. Continue reading →

Banga Sammelan 2010: A Review and Some Views

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by Amitava Sen

Kallol has done it again, a very successful and thoroughly enjoyable Banga Sammelan and Kallol deserves our gratitude. We needed it, a three days’ escape from humdrum of the life and for some of us from depressing economic uncertainty. Do not forget that this is a very difficult economic time in America, never encountered since thirties. It is never far from our minds. To venture into such a huge undertaking at this difficult time takes courage and boldness; Kallol accepted the challenge and succeeded under the very able leadership of Timir Hore, Sudhir Nag and Soumen Roy. Thank you.

In contrast with all other places around the country space and accommodations are at a premium in this New York metropolitan neighborhood, holding a convention here is hugely costly proposition. Compared to other years the attendance was sparse. No surprise. Foresight and wisdom on the part of the organizers contained the event to a manageable and economically viable limit. Continue reading →

NABC 2010 : The Plight of the Domestic Performers

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Anwesha and Abhijeet at NABC 2010Finally the 2010 NABC came to an end on Sunday July 11th at the Atlantic City convention center in New Jersey with a “blow out” performance by Abhijeet. Although his mockery of Bengali culture was not well appreciated by many Bengalees who slowly drifted away from the hall (which was not liked by the singer at all), his performance was just what was expected of a Bollywood performer – entertaining but nothing extraordinary. However, people who came to the conference went back with memories – some of which may not be very pleasant but I would think most of them would be happy memories. Memories of the wonderful performances by  Sahaj-ma and Utpal Fakir, Kaivalya Kumar and few others, memories of meeting friends, those long adda sessions and the World Cup finals.

But the people who went back with a bad taste in their mouth (no, I am not talking about the food served by Shahnawaz) were the people who came all the way to showcase their talent through dance, drama and music.  These people paid group registration for their show, paid individual registration fees for their entire troupe and spend big dollars to bring their show with the hope to share with their Bengali friends who came from around  the country. Continue reading →

Divyendu Sinha : A Life Lost to Teenage Brutality

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Last Friday night a horrific incident took place in an otherwise decent neighborhood in Old Bridge New Jersey. Dr. Divyendu Sinha, a forty nine year old Computer scientist, was having a walk outside his house with his wife and two sons when five teenagers came out of their car and started beating Dr. Sinha for no apparent reason. Dr. Sinha was severely injured and was later taken to the hospital where he died on Sunday morning. The brutality of this incident shocked not only the entire Indian American community, but also the society at large. The local law enforcement have arrested all the five perpetrators and have charged them with murder although their names have been withheld due to their age (between 16 and 17). Early reports classified this as a random incident, but according to recent statements from the County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan, bias crime charges will not be ruled out. In a recent meeting with the township officials, the Asian Indian community members have expressed that they have been harassed regularly by the local teenagers, and this is not a random incident at all. The township officials have instructed the community members that they should inform the police whenever they experience such behavior. I hope that the legal process takes due action and the criminals pay the highest price for their dastardly act. Continue reading →