Birth Centenary Celebration of Buddhadeb Bose

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Tagore Society of New York
Will celebrate
100 Year Anniversary of writer, poet ,novelist
Buddhadeb Bose

Sunday, September 14, 2008 @ 2.00 PM
At the residence of Dr.Nupur Lahiri
4343 State Hwy No. 27
Princeton, NJ 08540
732-821-3949

Introduction Jyotirmoy Datta
Songs Supti Dasgupta / Sushmita Sarkar / Nupur Lahiri
Poetry Reading Pijush Dey / Mel Datta
Play recital To be Determined
Poetry Reading Farooque Azam / Arvin Ghosh

Direction:
Rt. 1 south – turn right on Promonade Blvd.
Turn right on Rt. 27 drive 1 mile
The house is on left across Little Rocky Hill firehouse

Cartoon of the Week 6: The Pujo Entertainment

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Pujor AddaEntertainment events are the major attractions of any Durga Puja festival. The Puja organizers spend thousands of dollars to get the most popular artistes from India as well as from the local talent pool. It is the star entertainers that pull in the crowd, and crowd brings in revenue. The popularity ratings of the entertainers define the success of a Durga Puja.
But is it true? If the stars and their entertainment was the only reason to attend a Puja festival, then why do we have to listen to the constant rumbling noise of numerous “adda” sessions that continue in the background? As the audio levels of the performers rise, so does the noise level. To many attendees (myself included) the main attraction of attending a Puja is the opportunity to meet friends and engage in endless “addas”. We have no ill feeling towards the performers, they can continue to do their job as long as they don’t disturb our “addas”. After all, it is them who made us decide which Puja to attend – but they cannot deny us our birth right to be able to talk, talk and talk for hours on. We will occasionally listen to one or two songs to give our tired jaw bones some rest, but soon we’ll get back to argue about who was the best performer of the song, and how this “hopeless” artist has ruined the song completely. We’ll lament the dearth of talent in Bengal and how we miss the golden days of Kishore and Hemanta-da, how the new generation of band music is destroying Bangla music and why one should ban artistes like Sumon and Nachiketa.

ECTA Looking for Actors and Actresses

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ECTA (Ethnomedia Center for Theater Arts) is looking for actors and actresses for their upcoming production to be staged in late November 2008. Previous acting experience is nice to have but not necessary. Love for theater and performing arts is a must.

If you are interested please attend the following casting call.

Play: Banaprastha – a play in Bengali by Sudipta Bhawmik
Directed by: Indranil Mukherjee

Date and Time: Friday Sept 5 at 7:30pm
Place: 28 McBride Way, Bridgewater, NJ 08807

To RSVP send email to indymukh@gmail.com or bhawmik@gmail.com

Cartoon of the Week 5: Pujo Cartoon

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Suggested minumum pieces : 8Durga Puja festival has always been a great source of inspiration to me as a cartoonist. I have drawn several cartoons related to this festival and the way we celebrate it in our adopted homeland. Last week I posted one on the “Chanda” issue. This cartoon (drawn a long time ago for Kallol Sahityo Patrika) also takes a spin on the same touchy subject. In earlier times (late 80’s and early 90’s), the Pujo organizers did not specify or “suggest” any contribution amount to the attendees. The strong “suggestion” became, sort of, necessary from the later half of the 90’s when goat meat (or mutton curry) became a must item at the Saturday evening community dinner. Goat meat has always been an expensive item, and with the unpredictable attendance being a major problem, estimating the amount of meat to be cooked is always an issue. The volunteers serving dinner had to deploy smart strategies to control the number of mutton pieces to the hungry devotees standing in the line. At the beginning phase, they are generally generous, especially to their friends and families. However, soon (after a quick review by the supervisors) the strategy changes to a rationing mode when the number of mutton pieces served becomes indirectly proportional to the number of attendees. Now in this situation, the tired and hungry attendee, who has paid the “suggested minimum contribution” has all the right to demand a “suggested minimum number of pieces” of the precious goat meat. After all, that was one of the key factors that attracted him to this festival in the first place!

Cartoon of the Week 4: Pujor Chanda

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VegeterianPujo contribution or Chaanda (as we fondly call this concept) is always an issue with the average Bengali. Be it in India or in USA, Bengalis have the feeling that this is an unjust extortion in the name of a festival that we all like to attend. It should be free for all of us. Where the organizers get their funds is not for us to bother about. Since, most of the Pujo organizers make it a point to ensure that each and every attendee pays their contribution, we’d like to get away with the minimum amount that helps us to claim a stake in the festival. But the Pujo organizers these days are smart, they make the contribution amount quite obvious by displaying it in bold font. To justify the specified amount, the organizers will cite different components of the cost incurred to hold a festival of this magnitude, like goat meat, Mumbai and Kolkata performers – etc etc. This cartoon raises a legitimate question – why not an a-la carte system for Pujor Chanda? Sounds fair to me!

The Music Of India : A Concert at New Brunswick Theater District

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Fri Sep 12 7pm – 10pm
(Timezone: Eastern Time)
George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (map)

Mitali Banerjee BhawmikYou are invited to this music concert in the New Brunswick Theater District that I am helping to organize for September 12. Knowing your love for music, I am taking this opportunity to invite you to the concert and requesting to please kindly forward the invite to all interested music lovers you know. This concert will take you on a trip to the whole India through its music. Light music from all four corners of India will be presented by the accomplished and beloved artists mentioned below. Moreover, this is a fund raising concert to help the victims of the Myanmar floods and China earthquake, supported by the South Asian Professional Network (SAPN) of Merrill Lynch. A donation of $35 per person is desired to raise sufficient funds for the unfortunate victims.

Your participation will provide palpable help to the survivors.

The $35 include a ticket for the concert, full course Indian dinner
and soft drinks at the theater. Please RSVP before September 6 and your
seats will be reserved. Your donations will be accepted at the theater
on September 12 prior to the concert.

Agenda on Septeber 12 (Friday)
Dinner 7:00pm-7:45pm
Concert 7:45pm-10:00pm

Artists

Vocal:

Dr. Mohan Deshpande

Smt. Mitali Banerjee Bhawmik

Smt. Astha Shukla

Tabla: Dr. Amod Dandawate

Harmonium: Dr. Kedar Naphade.

New Jersey Durga Puja 2008

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Babul SupriyoThe most awaited event for any Bengali, the Durga Puja festival, is less than two months away. Kallol of NJ will be celebrating this festival during the weekend of October 3 to 5, 2008, while Garden State Cultural Association will have a concurrent celebration on Oct 4th and 5th. Having a concurrent celebration has its pros and cons. On the positive side, it helps to divide the audience which otherwise becomes impossible to manage at a single venue. The negative aspect is that many of us, who would have loved to attend both (and attend them completely), are denied of the opportunity.
However, even this joint celebration (I mean the dates only) is not helping the organizers. Depending on what performers are being invited from Kolkata or Mumbai by these organizers, crowd management becomes a major issue with frequent interruptions and threats from the Fire dept. Inviting these famous artists to perform during the Puja is a double edged sword. You need to get the popular star performers to pull in the crowd because it is them who pays for the enormous expense. On the other hand, too many people cannot be accommodated in the spaces the organizers typically use. Continue reading →

IIT Kharagpur Alumni – East Coast Summer Picnic 2008

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IIT KGP Alumni – East Coast Summer Picnic 2008

Hi Alumnus –
Our 11th annual picnic is scheduled for Saturday, September 20, 2008 (rain or shine). Please join us. Bring your significant other and family, and reconnect with friends. Lounge, bhaat, play and enjoy. Help grow the newly formed NY/NJ alum chapter.

When: Sat, Sept 20, 2008, 11am-4pm

Where: Duke Island Park Pavilion, Old York Road, Bridgewater, NJ

Park Contact: 908-722-7779, http://www.somersetcountparks.org

Cost: $20/adult (16yrs and above), $5 (6-15 yrs); Cost goes up after Sept 6

Catered Indian lunch will be served at 12:30pm. Please bring along lawn chairs and/or rugs to make yourselves comfortable. If you have any games or sports equipment (e.g., soccer, volleyball, cricket, cards, baddy), please bring along. If you would like to help with the event, please reach out to us.

To avail the early bird rate, register by September 6. After that the event fees go to $25 and $8 respectively. Send email to Ajit Agrawal (ajit_k_agrawal@yahoo.com) to use Paypal to register using credit cards.
If you prefer to send a check, please send to: Ajit K Agrawal, 315 West End Avenue, #8B, New York, NY 10023.

KGP ka tempo HIGH hai! See you on Sept 20.

Ajit Agrawal (ajit_k_agrawal@yahoo.com)

Subhodev Das (subhodev@att.net)

Arnab Dey (arnabdey@hotmail.com)

Kunal Sinha (kunalsinha@gmail.com)

Vinod Addidam (vinod.addidam@mba.stern.nyu.edu)

Ravi Gupta (ravi2gupta@yahoo.com)

Sri Krishna Janmashtami at Ananda Mandir

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Ananda Mandiis celebrating Sri Krishna Janmashtami on Sunday, August 24 From 6:00 AM to 9 :00 PM.

Sri Krishna Janmashtami Sunday, Aug 24, 2008 Extended Temple Hours 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM

6:00 am –Mangal Aarati

6.30 am –Sri Krishna Sahasra Naam Path

7.30 am – 9.30 am –Nitya Puja

10.00 am -11.00 am –Srimad Bhagavad Path

3.00 pm – 6.30 pm –Bhajan Sandhya

7.00 pm – 8.30 pm –Janmashtami Puja & Aarati