8 smt. pramita mallickhowcanihelpsandiego.com/wp-content/.../august-2011-dig… · 5/8/2011 ·...
TRANSCRIPT
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Editorial Board
Sharmila Dasgupta
Saheli Banerjee
Shawli Roy
Inside this issue:
Rabindra Sandhya 2011 1
Smt Pramita Mallick 1
Summer Vacation 4
An Environmental Journey
5
Camping Trip 6
Yellowstone 7
The Change 8
Q u a r t e r l y E - N e w s l e t t e r o f D a k s h i n i B e n g a l i A s s o c i a t i o n o f C A , V o l u m e 4 , A u g 2 0 1 1
(Continued on page 3)
As a tribute to Kabiguru
Rabindranath Tagore,
Dakshini celebrated
Tagore's 150th Birth
Anniversary on July 23
(Saturday) at 3.30 PM
at William Bristol Audi-
torium in Bellflower.
On the pleasant sum-
mer afternoon, about 200
Bengalis took part to cele-
brate „Rabindra Sandhya‟
to pay homage to the great
Nobel laurite poet and
composer. The evening
was dedicated to present
Tagore‟s incomparable
literary works in many
forms – recitation, songs,
Rabindra Sandhya 2011 by Sharmila Dasgupta
Saheli Banerjee speaks to
Smt. Pramita Mallick
(Continued on page 2)
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Q u a r t e r l y E - N e w s l e t t e r o f D a k s h i n i B e n g a l i A s s o c i a t i o n o f C A , V o l u m e 4 , A u g 2 0 1 1
Rabindra Sandhya (contd. from Page 1)
Sarmistha, daughter of
Sukanta and Mitali Datta
w a s m a r r i e d t o
Kamalesh Saha on July
5, 2011. The ceremony
took place in Kolkata
among family and friends.
Best wishes and congratu-
lations to the couple !!!
Mr. & Mrs. Datta are long-
t i m e m e m b e r s o f
Dakshini. We take this
opportunity to congratu-
late them too. Kamalesh
Saha is a Dakshini mem-
ber and active volunteer.
CONGRATULATIONS drama, and „shruti‟ drama.
During the first half, local tal-
ents from Los Angeles demon-
strated their talents through a
variety of performances. Each
performance was appropriately
timed, and was thoroughly
enjoyable.
Dakshini President presented a
plaque to the Chief Guest of the
evening Dr Mani Lal Bhaumik
for his outstanding contribu-
tions to the Bengaly communi-
ty.
The highlight of the evening
was a memorable performance
by renowned Rabindra Sangeet
exponent Smt. Pramita Mallick
from Kolkata (with musical
accompaniment). Smt.
Pramita Mallick is today at the
forefront of Rabindra Sangeet.
Schooled in Santiniketan,
Pramita received her training
from most of the stalwarts in
the field. Her rich and classical-
ly trained voice presented an
array of excellent compositions
of Tagore enriched by the phi-
losophy and spiritual interpre-
tation of the pieces.
The length of the evening pro-
gram was just right. The local
performances did not continue
until the audience ran out of
patience. Mrs. Mallick was
able to start and end her per-
formance on schedule, which
was much appreciated. Kudos
to the organizers for keeping
the event on schedule!!
Emcee Chameli Panja Biswas
Dance performance
Picture Courtesy: Sajal Debnath & Puskar Ghosh Choudhuri
Dynamic Duo Saheli & Joydeep Banerjee
Ankita Chattaraj, Dulal Goswami & Niravroh Laha
Felicitation of Dr Mani Lal Bhaumik by Dakshini
Robin Podder
Tathagata Dasgupta
Sidhartha Bhattacharjee, Smt Pramita Mallick & Samir Chatterjee
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Smt. Pramita Mallick (contd. from Page 1)
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At first, my summer vacation
promised to be dull, drab, and
long. I was dreading the long
warm days filled with nothing;
endless television and the mind-
less chatter on the social media
like Facebook. My parents with
nagging reminders about how to
build perfectionist attitudes. I
was bracing for a long period of
boredom. Then my dad surprised
us by announcing that we will
have a vacation after all - and it
would turn out to be the mother
of all vacations- a trip to Paris,
France and Luzern, Switzerland.
After my initial euphoria, I start-
ed to plan. I found ha h lf the
enjoyment of a vacation in the
planning, so I am a meticulous
planner. But contrary to my par-
ents' conventional sources of
Tripadvisor and Fodors, mine
were more novel. For one, I was
besieged by friends offering their
experiences and comments -
right from subways in Paris to
the shared pictures of the Parisi-
an lights.
Right on time, we boarded our
flight and reached Paris. Still
groggy from the transatlantic
flight, my family and I headed to
the hotel, which luckily was right
in the thick of action near
Champs de Elysee. My meticu-
lous plan (did I mention this
before?) had us visiting the Eiffel
Tower that day, but before long
we all dozed off, thoroughly jet
lagged. That was the beginning of
the end of my planning schedule.
The next four days passed in a
jiffy. We visited many of the note-
worthy places, including an open
top red bus which took us to all the
well known destinations, the cruise
on the Seine, the monuments and
the museums. As I predicted, Par-
is was too busy - too many places
to visit, too many tourists and too
little time. We were determined,
though, to make sure that we im-
bibed the Parisian spirit.
So we spent an evening strolling
down the Champs de Elysee, the
main road in Paris, checking out
the shops and soaking in the at-
mosphere. We even managed a
sandwich lunch on the embank-
ments of Seine. My mom was very
impressed with the Louvre muse-
um and taught me how to appreci-
ate paintings. Even my little broth-
er seemed less annoying as he
soaked in the Parisian atmosphere.
Soon though, it was time to leave
and we boarded a train to Switzer-
land. European trains are great,
very punctual and clean and pretty
fast too. We reached Basel and
then Luzerne by noon. The first
thing that struck me was its differ-
ence from Paris. From the man
made marvels of Paris - the exquis-
ite museums and grand palaces,
we enter the natural wonders of
the enchanting Swiss mountains
Page 4 My Summer Vacation by Sagarika Basu
Q u a r t e r l y E - N e w s l e t t e r o f D a k s h i n i B e n g a l i A s s o c i a t i o n o f C A , V o l u m e 4 , A u g 2 0 1 1
and lakes.
Lake Luzern is superb. I can ef-
fortlessly while away countless
hours in this picturesque lake
with the majestic snow moun-
tains in the background, gazing at
the beautiful white swans. It
seemed that time stands still in
Switzerland - My dad bought us
all umpteen cups of Swiss Hot
Chocolate and Pastries, and it
was like heaven on earth.
As with all good things, our holi-
day also ended. Not long enough,
we all complained, as we made
our way to Zurich airport enroute
back to LA. My dad mentioned
that we saw the best of both
worlds - artificial gems like the
Louvre or the Eiffel Tower and
the natural marvels of exquisite
glaciers and mountain flowers in
full bloom. I sighed as I drowsed
off to sleep - it was the best of all
worlds - a lovely vacation with
my most prized possession, my
loving family.
Note: Sagarika, daughter of
Dipankar and Madhumita Basu,
has been an active member of
the Dakshini Youth.
Eiffel Tower, Paris
Getting a Portrait drawn, Paris
The Gate
With my brother at Switzerland
Nature at its best, Switzerland
Pictures from Europe
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An Environmental Journey with Ronnie Das
ated from college and delving
into a career was an incredible
challenge. My volunteering ef-
forts with the City of San Diego
became my first job which was
steady and fun, but every day I
would read about new environ-
mental industries and things that
seemed so exciting outside of
native plant restoration. I could-
n't last in a traditional office and
quit on October 1st, 2010 which
was also the first day of filming at
the San Diego Sustainable Roots
Harvest Festival for “How Can I
Help?” Episode 1: Farm Fresh.
Since then I never looked back.
4. Do you have another pro-
ject in mind, or do you want
to take this one further and
expand on it?
With 100 episode ideas, How Can
I Help -San Diego will continue
for 5 years and it shall also ex-
pand to new horizons. Many
television projects outside of
'How Can I Help?' are also in
development, but details are
vague at this point. Mostly I will
executive produce the franchise
of “How Can I Help?” as well as
the other television projects to a
point where I can move forward
in a specific environmental career
while additionally producing
more television shows.
5. Most important, how do
you feel about the success of
this work?
Quite simply -- amazing. I'm not
a TV guy. I'm a kid from Lake-
wood who went to college and
learned about plants. Making a
30 minute television show every
week is pretty difficult, and get-
ting that to TV is near impossible.
6. What steps did you have to
take to take your project to
the Air? Were their obsta-
cles?
Confidence is king, so every inse-
curity was out the window when I
pitched the show. Every obstacle
and challenge available has come
up since than, but hard work, te-
nacity, and perseverance solved it
all.
7. Who would you like to rec-
ognize and/or thank for your
success?
My parents, Ranjit and Rupasree
Das, are an awesome support
structure for pursuing my dreams
in the environment. My parents are
pretty supportive of my good ideas
and keep me grounded from my
(many) bad ideas. My brother, Sho
is also very supportive also has the
tech saavy abilities to really help
me with social media. The show is
not possible without the volunteer
efforts of our guests and my friends
who help with cameras, audio,
editing, etc.
8. Anything else you like to
say about work and future
vision?
Do what you love. I'm the CEO
and founder of Research and De-
velopment foundation whose sub-
sidiary is RDF. Since I have made
it so far, the future looks healthy .
Note from Editor:
Ronnie produced a TV Series “How
Can I help” that was aired in June
2011. Ronnie, son of Ranjit & Ru-
pasree Das, has been an active
member of the Dakshini Youth.
If you have any ideas, suggestions,
or would like to help, please e-mail
1. Please tell us how and
when did you develop an
interest in environmental
issues?
My motivation in environmental
issues began with the road trips I
would complain about at the time
with my parents. “Behold the
nature” as my dad would say and
I guess a piece of me just listened.
In college I changed my major
from Pre-Med Biology to Environ-
mental Systems/ Environmental
Policy as a result of what I truly
wanted to do with my career.
2. What is your objective/
goal with the current pro-
ject? Where do you want to
take it?
The Goal of “How Can I Help?” is
to create an engaging, entertain-
ing, and informative resource for
adopting green lifestyle choices
and embracing sustainable solu-
tions for the modern technologi-
cally oriented world. The environ-
ment is my career, not a hobby ,
so I am working to ensure its
credibility so it continues to sus-
tain a growing job market. I also
have experience and built a net-
work through my guests into
whatever industry I find the most
exciting as just the executive pro-
ducer of the show. The show pro-
vides a necessary platform for
discussing environmental issues
and will become an indispensable
asset for the environmental field.
3. Please tell us about your
studies and research that led
to the final project?
During the worst financial reces-
sion since the depression I gradu-
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Q u a r t e r l y E - N e w s l e t t e r o f D a k s h i n i B e n g a l i A s s o c i a t i o n o f C A , V o l u m e 4 , A u g 2 0 1 1
Ronnie Das
in Action
On the drawing board
At the camera
With the viewers
At the studio
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Page 6
Q u a r t e r l y E - N e w s l e t t e r o f D a k s h i n i B e n g a l i A s s o c i a t i o n o f C A , V o l u m e 4 , A u g 2 0 1 1
The Camping Trip
The Tent
The Nature
and not too cold; it was the per-
fect temperature and also the
perfect day for a swim. It was
really hot, so we basically stayed
in the water the most of the time
we were at the beautiful lake.
The little group at King‟s Canyon
also saw wonderful things. I
heard from them that the saw a
huge tree and they actually got to
go inside it! They also saw a
beautiful, roaring, waterfall and
got all drenched in it. Both
groups got back to the campsite
at around the same time. Some
other people had also come. The
grown -ups talked and ate, while
the kids told scary stories. Even
though it was really hot out we
still had a campfire. All the kids
got sticks and toasted the deli-
cious marshmellows. Fire was
put out and we all went to bed
dreaming about the next day in
Yosemite.
The next morning everyone
had to get up early. It would take
2 hours to get to Yosemite. The
traffic was horrifying, we moved
a tiny bit every ten minutes. I
finished a whole chapter book on
the way. Since nobody had any-
thing to do all the people (that
weren‟t driving of course), got out
of the car and started walking.
We finally got in and realized
what we were there for, the wa-
terfall. It took 15 minutes to go and
15 minutes to come. It was a long
walk but it was worth it! As we
started to get closer to the waterfall
it also started to get colder and we
could feel the water being sprayed.
I ran toward it holding on tight to
my hat. Some others including my
dad‟s hat got swept into the water-
fall‟s powerful current. I got almost
soaking wet and the group started
back toward the entrance. It took
almost 2-3 hours to get out of the
park. At last, we made it. We had-
n‟t eaten dinner yet so we went to
this Chinese restaurant. It was
pretty late when we got back to the
campsite. We all just sleep walked
out of the car and into bed.
The next morning everyone
woke up very early to get packed
up. We ate breakfast very quickly.
Then we got ready, packed all our
things, got the directions, said are
good-byes, got in the car and left.
In the beginning the camping trip
wasn‟t as expected, but in the end I
couldn‟t have asked for a better
one!
Note from Editor:
R o o p s h a , d a u g h t e r o f
P a d m a p a r n a a n d A r n a b
Chatterjee, has been an active
member of the Dakshini Youth.
When the group had got to the
camping site I doubt any of us
saw what we had expected to see.
It was hot and sticky and we could
hardly move. Bugs swarmed eve-
rywhere; around the tents, in the
cars, near our food, and anywhere
where there was light. There were
about 15 kids and 22 grown-ups.
It was a big group! The kids went
to sleep early while the grown-ups
stayed up a little longer.
The next day was much better!
We (my friends and I) found a
playground up, on top of a hill
near the camping site. We played
at the playground and looked out
over the trees and forests. There
we saw the most beautiful thing!
There was a huge lake, it was
crystal blue, and looked even
more wonderful with the orange
and yellow sunset shining upon it,
but of course only the kids got to
see it because the grown-ups were
too busy talking.
That day we also went to that
same lake (I learned it was called
Lake Hensley); half the group
went to the lake to play while the
rest went to King‟s Canyon. At
Lake Hensley there were clear
waters and the perfect rocks to
climb. The rocks were not slip-
pery or rough, they had little steps
where you put your feet. It was
lovely! The water was not too hot
Our Camping Trip of Summer 2011 by Roopsha Chatterjee (11 yrs)
The Team
পরশপাথররর খ াোঁরে
The Sun & The Shade
The Smile & Joy
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Yellowstone ment is what makes us mortal,
and yet, its also what makes life
beautiful. So, as I sit at home
writing this, I close my eyes and
remember as images of geysers,
surreal sunsets and a mother
deer caring for her young. No
matter how hard I would have
tried to imagine these, nothing
can compete with the memory of
seeing them close up in my own
eyes. On our trip, we saw a varie-
ty of geysers, natural hot spots,
glossy waterfalls, and snowy
mountaintops. But more than
that, I saw something that was of
even more immense beauty. I saw
a perfect coalition of the natural
outlook of Yellowstone, and the
spiritual essence that it provoked
in my heart. Usually, I'm not a
superstitious guy, but how can
one not be with something that
looks like heaven there on your
fingertips? With Yellowstone, I
can‟t really describe it in its physi-
cal form, it‟s more of an emotional
experience. It‟s not a miraculous
find, but rather, more of a revela-
tion. It‟s something people need to
see, it‟s something that you need to
see. It'll make every breath of life
more precious, perhaps because
the air is cleaner there, perhaps
because it makes one feel more
alive. So do yourself a favor, stop
reading this little article, and go
witness the real thing for your-
selves. Literature can only give you
mind a treat, experience can give
your heart a reason to keep beat-
ing.
Note from Editor:
Ronit Ghosh, has been an active
youth contributor of Diganta.
Here is another article of him
viewing life on nature’s trail.
You know, I've never been a
„nature person‟, someone who
likes to watch beautiful sights
from close up. No, I've always
been the kind of guy who was
completely content with just
watching incredible things or T.V
and not having to worry about the
tedious six-hour flights to come
home. I imagine, many practical
people are like me as well, be-
cause things are just so accessible
nowadays. But of course, I sup-
pose there are a few exceptions to
that rule. The biggest exception in
recent memory is going to Yellow-
stone National Park, which was a
revelation in many ways.
People come and go in one's life
and that has become a law of na-
ture as years have passed by. As a
child, it was something I hated
the most about life, but now, its
something I keep with me to cher-
ish even longer. The fleeting mo-
Tour Diary: Yellowstone National Park by Ronit Ghosh
Picture Courtesy: Sujal & Ronit Ghosh
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The Change by Tuhinkana Das
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Page 9
Q u a r t e r l y E - N e w s l e t t e r o f D a k s h i n i B e n g a l i A s s o c i a t i o n o f C A , V o l u m e 4 , A u g 2 0 1 1
The Change (Continued from Page 7)
From the editorial board:
পরুো আসরে -
আসুন আমরা দিগন্ত পুজ া সংখ্যার নয তৈরী হই
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D i g a n t a , Q u a r t e r l y E - N e w s l e t t e r o f D a k s h i n i B e n g a l i A s s o c i a t i o n o f C A , V o l u m e 4 , A u g 2 0 1 1
We are on the Web
www.dakshini.org
Q u a r t e r l y E - N e w s l e t t e r o f D a k s h i n i B e n g a l i A s s o c i a t i o n o f C A , V o l u m e 4 , A u g 2 0 1 1
Dakshini - A Vibrant Southern California Community
That cares for each other, joins each other in joy and sorrow
WE ARE ALL PROUD of YOU!!
Please write in DIGANTA - this is the Community e-Journal to express your voice
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family and friends. Help us expand our culture beyond the boundaries. You can
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Page 10
DIGANTA - Pictures from overseas
পররবর্ত রের (the change) ...... Picture of Trinamool
Supporters waving
flags upon their partys
win in West Bengal
Election
May 2011
...রূপকার (& Victorious Leader)
Picture of Ms Mamata
Banerjee, Chief Minister,
West Bengal
May 2011
DIGANTA is requesting all Community Members to submit articles for publishing in
Durga Puja 2011 brochure