The Bengali Association’ Celebration of DURGA PUJA in Birmingham

Durga Puja

in Birmingham England A chronological history of the evolution for the Bengalis in Birmingham and progression associated with ‘The Bengali Association’ Celebration of DURGA PUJA in Birmingham

Bengalis in Birmingham www. bengalisinbirmingham.org.uk Third Edition 2020 Priya Bala Sarkar 1921 - 1995 This Booklet is dedicated to Priya Bala Sarkar. She was the glue that bound our Bengali Family. In the early days, she provided Bengali Cuisine at our gatherings as we did not have our own community centre. She cared deeply about creating a happy family for Bengalis in Birmingham.

She was also the Great Mashima/Jathaima performing ‘Puja rituals’ when we struggled to ﬁnd a Priest for our religious ceremonies. She encouraged and supported many of our Brahmin Friends to become a ‘Pujari’. Her presence in the ‘Puja Hall’ contributed to the successful continuity of our religious celebrations. During our Puja Festivals, she was always one of the last to leave our ‘Puja Hall’ making sure that no one went without ‘Prasad’ as people visited our ‘Puja Mandap’ at any time of day from far and away.

Many children from our community (now in their 50’s) still remember the love and the sweets from nany and adopted her as their ‘Super Nanny’.

Her contribution was invaluable to our community and the journey of the ‘The Bengali Association’ Durga Puja 1969 at Allen Knox Memorial Hall Aston Cross, Birmingham, England.

Mr. G. Sarkar, the organiser arranging a tableau of Goddess Durga and her attendants for the Hindu festival “Durga Puja” 1969 at Aston Cross, Birmingham..

Published by “The Birmingham Post & Evening Mail” ------

2 Bengalis in Birmingham Celebrated Durga Puja since 1969

We are proud and privileged to have been actively associated with Durga Puja in Birmingham for 50 years in 2018. This ﬁrst Durga Puja brought all the Bengali families in Birmingham together and made us feel at home. This was the pre-destination for the inception of our glorious “Bengali Association” in Birmingham, U.K. We are thankful to every one who helped in this endeavour directly or indirectly to make the Puja success in 1969. It was a great effort by the community.

In 1970 Lord Luis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India attended the Durga Puja in Birmingham. 3 The Tagorian in Midlands

Birmingham has been a place for Bengalis since 1935. First and foremost we are talking about Calcacian Bengali (from Calcutta now Kolkata). We have integrated with the host community in Birmingham, but from the beginning we have tried to maintain our unique food, lan- guage, culture and identity, because we wish to be identiﬁ ed as Bengalis. The Bengalis in India are the champions of social and cultural heritage. Often, we pride ourselves being ‘Tagorian’ as the world famous Poet, Playwriter and Nobel Laureate ‘Rabindra Nath Tagore’ was born in this part of West Bengal, India. We wished to continue on this Bengali Cul- ture in Birmingham. According to our knowledge one Bengali Drama “Rajsingha” written by another giant of Bengali literaturer Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was staged (in English) in 1948 organised by Late Dr. Sudhir Ranjan Dasgupta which was graced by the guest audience of V. K. Krishna Me- non (Ex-Defence Minister of India and a prominent leader for Freedom Fighters of ‘India League’ in London).

Our predecessors tried to establish a Bengali

community since they arrived in Birmingham. One such noble man was the Late Dr. S.K. Sen. He felt for the Bengali people so much that he used to celebrate ‘Saraswati Puja’ at his own home, Dr. S. K. Sen but needless to say it was a daunting task to unite the Bengali People. As our respect and admiration goes to the local Bengali prede-

cessors, our memories come ﬂ ooding back from many years ago. It was midsummer in 1968, a group of Bengali people from Wolverhampton organised a coach trip led by Dhiren Ghosh and assisted by Kanchan Mitra.

A major breakthrough for the Bengali community was the celebration of “Durga Puja” in Wolverhamton in 1968. Dhiren Ghosh 4 with G. Sarkar The success of the Puja in Wolverhampton inspired us (the Bengalis in Birmingham) to seek a path to promote cultural events in Birmingham which we often used to discuss in “The Witton Arms” at weekends.Towards the end of July 1969, a coach trip to Llandudno was organized by G. Sarkar from Yewtree Road, Witton in Birming- ham . It was a tremendous success. The food and entertainment were unforgettable, we still remember the joy of dancing and singing while travelling along in the Coach. This trip was not organised in the name of any association. It was the conﬁrmation of enthusiasm and a strong conviction for the Bengali community. This was the most successful event ever. This memorable Coach Trip gave us the evidence of the need to form a community for the local people to preserve the heritage and Culture of Bengalis.

A meeting was called by G. Sarkar for Durga Puja (1969) at 120 Yew Tree Road, Witton, Birmingham. The news of the meeting spread rapidly. Several letters were received from interested people who wanted to join the meeting. Among them Dr. S.K.Sen from Walsall - who was a most distinguished person in our communities. A group of people from Small Heath led by Brojen Basu and Mrinal Chowdhury. Also other attended people were Rakhal Kar from Edgbaston and local people P.K. Das, P.K. Chanda, Jagadish Halder, Arup Bhowmick, S.K.Dutta, Mahaprobhu Paul etc. etc.

Dr. S.K.Sen was asked to take the chair for the day as he was one of the elderly respectable persons with active connection to the community. Dr.Sen was also The President of The Geeta Bhawan Mandir. As the meeting was in progress, suddenly an uninvited guest stormed through the door with two of his supporters. It was Late Mihir Gupta, a local Bengali School teacher and a part time Politician, who was also the Chair-man of the Birmingham City Privy Council (Ethnic Group).

In the past Mihir Gupta and Dr.Sen were rivals in the election of the ‘Indian Workers Association’. A heated and unnecessary ar- gument took place between these two gentlemen. The meeting was disrupted. Despite several requests Dr. Sen walked out with his two supporters Rakhal Kar and P.K.Das. 5 The meeting continued at Yewtree Road and a committee was formed called ‘Midland Asian Hindu Society’. Mihir Gupta was elected as Chairman, P. K. Chanda was Treasurer, Allan Knight (BBC) - was Stage Designer. G. Sarkar was the Chief Organiser for the entire programme. Protima was ﬂown from Calcutta (Kolkata) with ﬁnancial help from Mrinal Choudhury and the Puja took place at Allen Knox Memorial Hall, Aston Church Lane, Aston Cross, Birmingham B6 To our dismay, in secret, another Puja Committee was formed By Dr. S. K. Sen with P.K.Das, Rakhal Kar etc. and Puja was held at ‘Geeta Bhawan Mandir’. The Puja at ‘Geeta Bhawan Mandir’ was overwhelmed with a massive crowd, the people from neighbouring areas poured in from Leicester, Derby, Wolverhampton for Devi Darshan. Bengali people did not have a chance to celebrate Bijoya Dashami, some even did not get the opportunity to enter the Mandir. The Puja at Aston Cross took huge publicity due to the political attitude of Mihir Gupta. The event was published in all the local media and appeared in the news in T.V.News. The road was patrolled by Police and the Fire Brigade was in stand-by, the Health and Food department came to inspect the food at G.Sarkar’s residence at 120 Yew Tree Road, Witton etc. etc.

1969 was glorious year of the Bengali community in Birmingham with great success of Durga Puja but it concluded with four separate divisions among the Bengali community. The unity of the Bengali community was completely shattered. There were four separate Puja Groups among the Bengali community in the Midlands - The Midland Asian Hindu Society (Birmingham), Midland Indian Association (Wolverhampton), Asian Hindu Cultural Association (Wednesbury) and Geeta Bhawan Durga Puja (Lozells). This predicament due to the divisions in the community was the predestination of the glorious inception for The Bengali Association. The passion and the powerful expression of desire to promote Bengali culture could no longer remain dormant. An account was opened in the name of ‘Bengali Association’ with T.S.B.Municipal Bank (Lloyds TSB) at Witton, Birmingham for £9.10sd (shillings). Although a constitution was drafted with the help of the Bank Manager appointing a Chair person (Sikha Sarkar) and a secretary (G. Sarkar) to open the account; but there was no association or any committee, only the intensity of commitment for the unity of the Bengali Friends and Families. 6

One evening in 1970, it expressed itself impromptu as a Musi- cal Entertainment and Children’s Party organised by G. Sarkar. The forum being “Bijoya Sanmelani” at Youth Club in Witton, Birmingham. The programme was extremely successful because the generosity of the Bengali Community. This helped enormously to bring the community members closer together. This was the inception for the hope of ‘An acorn today - the Great Oak tomorrow’, for which a handwritten leaﬂet was distributed and it read these great words...

Organised by “THE BENGALI ASSOCIATION”

This was followed by regular monthly meeting at ‘Dr. Johnson- House’, 40 Bull Street, Birmingham B4 6AF; with the hope to promote Bengali culture. A series of hall bookings and advance payments was made by G. Sarkar before introducing membership fees to raise funds. This continued for many years without any committee or constitution. In our monthly meeting, we served Indian style Dinner and Snacks ( Muri- Puffed rice, Televaja etc.), At the beginning all the food were prepared by the Late (Mrs.) P.B.Sarkar at 120 Yew Tree Road, Witton, Birmingham.

As a single handed organiser it was an easy option to organise the Film Show and keep the community together and also raise funds for the Association. The ﬁrst ﬁlm show at Dr. Johnson House was ‘PARASH PATHAR’ acted by famously hilarious actor ‘Tulsi Chakaraborty’, followed by many more Film shows (Total of 35 commercial and 22 Library Films in 4 years).

Our ﬁrst major event was “RABINDRA JAYANTI” i n 1 9 7 1 a t Dr. Johnson’s House which created huge publicity for The Bengali As- sociation. And large numbers of new members joined in to celebrate the very ﬁrst ‘Rabindra Jayanti’ in Birmingham.

7 G. Sarkar, the ‘Founder Member’, addressing a meeting and introducing a new member P. K. Das

One of the distinguished new members to join in our association in 1972 at ‘Dr. Johnson House’ was Mr. P. K. Das. He was perhaps one of the most suitable person at that time. The Bengali Association was waiting for such a dedicated gentleman, it was truly a new beginning for The Bengali Association. We made numerous visits house to house to promote the existence of our Association. Our mission was to create one Big Family in Birmingham, like a bunch of ﬂowers with varieties and colours. Membership increased rapidly.

In 1972 we moved to ‘British Council’, Colmore Row, near Town Hall, City Centre. ‘British Council’ at Birmingham - this was a great meeting place for ex-patriots from far and wide. One Bengali gentleman B. K. Goswami was a senior member of ‘The British Council’. He was excellent with pen and paper. His skill to take the minutes of the meetings was second to none. His presence was a valuable asset for the Bengali Association. B. K. Goswami was also a lineman. He was a link for communication with others. 8 B. K. Goswami As you know that in the 60’s large groups of Indians poured in to the U.K. and there was racial tension in the community. The Government was heavily engaged to encourage Racial Equality. There was an ofﬁce for ‘Race Relation Equality’ at Bennetts Hill, City Centre, Birmingham headed by Rev. Canon Schiff and ‘Race Relation Equality’ was supported by Rev. Smith of Aston Cross, Rev. Charles of Erdington, Rev. Potters of Lozells and many more Church Leaders. B.K. Goswami had a connection with this Race Relation ofﬁce. Once B.K. Goswami made an arrangement for G. Sarkar- the organiser of The Bengali Association to meet the gentleman called John Palmer, his vision was to unite all the ethnic groups together. John Palmer published a magazine called “All Faiths For One Race” which was funded by ‘The City Council’. Bengali Association used to be featured in that magazine regularly. In the 70’s there were 11 ethnic societies in the West Midlands and the Bengali Association was the champion of all. We also used to publish a hand written Bengali Magazine every month with Editorial Team of Rama Mukherjee and Milli Choudhury.

In the beginning of the Bengali Association, all meetings and activities were organised without any consultation with anybody as we did not have any committee. Agendas of the meeting used to be prepared by G. Sarkar as required. The monthly meetings used to be conducted by selected panels from the attending members. To name few such noble people who took part in the panel were ...Dr. S. K. Sen, Dr. A. K. Mitra, Dr. S. Basu, Dr. P. Mukherjee, P. K. Roychowdhury, Dr. A.K. Adak, Dr.S.K.Chakraborty, Prashanta Mukerjee, M. Paul, S. Das, B. Mukherjee, Dhrubo Biswas, A. K.Paul, B. K. Goswami etc.

Dr. S. K. Sen expressed his view with Mr. G. Sarkar for the need of the elected committee and a written constitution as we have developed to a recognised and respectable organisation in The Midlands.

9 “British Council” was a memorable Venue for us. We organised many important programmes from the ‘British Council’ site for the Bengali Association. ie: The very ﬁrst religious festival, -”SARASWATI PUJA” at Dyson Hall, Aston Cross, Birmingham.The very ﬁrst Live Dance-Drama was staged in “Rabindra Jayanti - 1972” at St. Martins Church, Bull Ring, Birmingham. The attendants in ‘Rabindra Jayanti’ were underestimated. People were standing to watch the programme.

We performed many Mega Shows. But these Shows were not staged by ‘The Bengali Asso- ciation’ due to financial difficuties. All Mega shows were sponsored by G. Sarkar in the name of ‘The Bengali Associaion’ and were huge successes. The very first Mega Bengali Concert by “Hemanta Kumar”- a Legendary Singer at Digbeth Civc Hall. Hemanta Mukherjee also performed at Digbeth in 1974. The famous Bengali Folk Singer “Nirmalendu Choudhury” and his company with 13 people appeared at Digbeth Civic Hall in 1975. We used to hold commercial Cinema Show at Digbeth Civic Hall; also Library Film Show at ‘Arts Lab Centre’, Aston University including Satyajit Hemanta Mukherjee Roy’s Films and Documenta- ries (ie:Netaji, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Independence Nirmalendu Choudhury Day etc. etc) . 1010 RABINDRA JAYANTI 6th. May 1972 Presented by The Bengali Association at St. Martins Church Bull Ring, Birmingham

Directed By: Anil Mitra Lead Singer: Subrata Biswas Tabla: Manoj Bhattacharyya Play Back: Manju Mullick. Minaskhi Sengupta, Rama Mukherjee, Bimal Pandey, Prashanta Sen Dancers: Kushumika Chetterjee, Bul Bul Das, Yasmin Chowdhury. Make up: Reba Biswas Produced by: Gauranga Sarkar

Photos by: Yusuf Chowdhury 11 12 Puja Souvenir We moved from the British Council premises to “Martin Luther King Centre” at Aston University with the help of Dr. Dulal Ghose. Our monthly meeting was growing strength to strength. Our membership increased rapidly. Many dedicated members joined the Association. To name a few of them who had tremendous contribution to build our association for the future ie: Bibhuti Mukherjee, Saktipada Bhattachryya, Amar Ghosal, Robin Basu, Biswanath Sarkar, Makhan Lal Dutta, Loken Pal, Dr. Ranajit Biswas, Dr. Subrata Ray, Ashis Mitra, Sukla Mukherjee, Arati pal, Basanti Chatterjee, Mrinal Choudhury, Dr. Bishnupada Das, Bhupal Choudhury, Nirmal Das etc. etc. and many more. These members made tremendous contribution to make The Bengali Association a success for the future.

1974 was very significant year for the Bengali Association. Untill now, there was no registered body to organise all our functions and activities except the individual enthusiasm and commitment to promote Bengali Culture. 1974 was the year for our first election with portfolio. Our first written constitution was prepared and this was the year for our very first Durga Puja Celebration by Bengali Association at Wallace Lawler Centre, Wheeler Street, Newtown, Birmingham B19 2EL.

It was very difficult to find a Hall for our four days event of Durga Puja which require a Hall for 6 days. We approached Wallace Lawler - the Liberal Leader in Birmingham. Alderman Wallace Lawler was a British Liberal Politician and MP. He recognised our problem, despite the difficulty of pre booking by Lucas Work Pension Recreation Club; he was very kind to us for the use of this Hall for our most important religious festival Durga Puja. Puja is most joyous moment for us, but we must be very vigilant during the festival. In 2012 Runa Bhowmick’s sari caught Fire. Gauranga Sarkar rushed to the rescue and pulled her down from the stage to the floor and put the Fire out with help of others. She had third degree burns and Gauranga Sarkar with second degree burns. We were saved from catastrophic disaster. Alderman Wallace Lawler ‘Be Vigilant during Puja’ 13 ...... G. SIRCAR

14 In the beginning as we did not have our own premises, we used to have our committee meetings and ‘Rehearsal’ for our Dramas in the member’s house with our family and children. The host always provided with full Bengali Cuisine. This was a very close relationship atmosphere which we enjoyed with our hearts for many years. We performed many Dramas; to name a few we staged in the hired hall were ‘Kadombini’, ‘Bashikaran’, ‘Gandhari’, ‘Malya Dan’, ‘Rakta Karobi’, ‘Malini’, ‘Muktir Oopaie’, ‘Bisarjan’, ‘Boudir-Biye’, etc. etc. 1981 was a regretfull year for The Bngali Association as it was unable to perform ‘Rabindra Jayanti’ for the first time since it started due to a political disagreement within the committee. However ‘Rabindra Jayanti’ 1981 was celebrated at ‘The Arts Lab Centre’, Aston University by G.Sarkar and the disagreement became a harmony which was followed by eighteen (18) of com- mercials and documentaries FILM shows. ‘‘Rabindra Jayanti’ in 1982 was one of our best perfomance organised by Dr. A. K. Adak. The entire programme was performed by the artists from West Bengal led by the renowned singer Santidev Ghosh. We spent many, many happy years with M. L. K. Centre, but were having difficulties in finding a suitable hall to promote our Cultural and Religious Festivals due to increased demand of participants. Initially we were handicapped by the lack of facilities, especially a PREMISES of our own to fulfil our dream. Thanks to a group of dedicated people (to name a few: Dhrubo Biswas, Loken Pal, Ranajit Biswas, Robin Bose, Prodyut Das etc.) and many general members for their hard work and intellectual contribution. We were rewarded on 6th. January 1999 with a National Lottery Board Grant of £188,000/ to the ‘Bengali Association’ in order to enable us to have our own Premises. The association is thankful to all the members who helped in this endeavour both directly or indirectly. It was a united hard effort by each and every member. We bought the premises.... Heath Street, Winson Green, Birmingham B18 4EE

15 The Bengali Association’ has changed and developed in many ways since it’s inception, and now it is known as ‘Bengali Association Midlands’ and Bank Account has been transferred from TSB to HSBC. Now we have many colourful programmes including Cultural, Educational, Religious, Sports as wel as Friday Club and Seniors’ Citizen club etc.

The opportunity has arrived to achieve our goal to promote more events and activities for better relation within our community. But the Bengali enthusiasm and the participants has increased so rapidly since we have our own premisses that we need a bigger venue.

We have raised the issue for a bigger Venue with one of our distinguish member Lord S. K. Bhattacharyya. Lord Bhattcharyya arranged a dinner party at ‘Lychee Garden Restaurant’ to discuss for the bigger premises.

The guest attended the dinner party were Santimoy De, Gauranga Sarkar, Kalyan Dutt, Subrata Ray, Biswa Nath Sarkar, Ranajit Biswas, Robin Basu and Makhan Lal Dutta. In the meeting, the Drawings and Photographs were presented by Gauranga Sarkar for .... ‘A Vision of the Future’ Our ‘Vision of the Future’ can only be achieved with your help and cooperation. We desperately need your support. We invite you to join the ‘Bengali Associa- tion Midlands’ to make it a success for the next generation

16 New Generation We built our Association from the beginning with our hearts for the next generation in this new land. We found that as our children grew up, ﬁnished their studies and chose their profession - they moved away to start their own lives and professional careers. At this point we became extremely concerned for our Association’s future to preserve the rich culture of our heritage.

We were fortunate that in the early 21st Century, there was a high demand in the U.K. for professionals and IT experts. With this opportunity many young Benga- lis settled in the Midlands. The new young generation from Kolkata (Calcasian) has joined in our Association since 2004. They are extremely talented people, more so than in the1970’s; when the Bengalis were struggling to settle in Britain with racism and the most divisive but greatest politician of his generation Enoch Powell (Minister of Health 1960-1963).

. The “Rivers of Blood” speech by Enoch Powell in Birmingham, criticised immigration to the United Kingdom. The speech caused a huge political storm in our living memory. The Conservative Party Enoch Powell leader Edward Heath sacked Powell from his position as ‘Shadow Defence Secretary’ for the discriminatory immigration speech. At that time 80% of the Bengali population settled in the Midlands were from the ‘Merchant Navy’ due to job availability. There were two groups of Bengali Hindu Communities in the Midlands. One group was from Bangladesh and other from Kolkata (Calcasian), West Bengal. The speech by Enoch Powell ‘‘River of Blood’’ was defended by a mass meeting led by Mihir Gupta at the Town Hall, Birmingham with associated help from G. Sarkar and Bengali Communities. This racism was vigorously attacked by our Bengali part time politician Mihir Gupta together with guest speaker - the British political activist Tariq Ali. G. Sarkar & Mihir Gupta Now, it is our privilege that the new young generation (Calcasian) are participating with our Association’s activities. And also holding position with our Executive Committees. Their contribution is invaluable. They are ﬂourish- ing our programmes and performances with colourful vibrancy at their best. You are the Successor of Success

17 18 The Association is also thankful to all the members for their individual ﬁnancial contribution who helped to acquire the ‘Adjacent Land’ for future development. Our next project is to make the Venue more attractive with extra space to accommodate the demand. This will serve better Social, Cultural and Educational improvement in our community. We need help and support. FLY YOUR FLAG WITH DIGNITY

Published by ‘The Birmingham Post & Evening Mail’ ______

“An aspiration for Bengali Retirement Home” 19 20 21 TRIUBUTE

We pray for the soul ‘To Be In Peace In Heaven’ In Memory of the People who were associated with us directly or indirectly to celebrate Durga Puja in Birmingham.

Maha Probhu Paul - Witton, B’ham Saktipada Bhattacharyya B’ham Sabita Choudhury - Selly Oak Dr. Shayama Prasad Roy - B’ham Sankar Das - solihul - Robindra Kumar Vhadra - Walsall Kanchan Mitra - Wolverhampton Nibas Basu - Erdington in India Dr. A. K. Mitra - Solihull Dr. Subodh Basu - Erdington Dr. Bidhan Chatterjee - Coventry Tanima Mitra - W-ton in India Satya Dutta - Great Barr, B’ham Dr. Dipok K. Banerjee-W’hampton Dr. S. K. Sen - Walsall - Gopa Bose - Coventry Dr. Sudhir R. Dasgupta- Solihull Rathin Bose - Coventry Debi Roy - Lady Wood, B’ham Shree Nibas Kutty Birmingham Mihir Gupta - Edgbaston, B’ham Dr. Manab De Munshi - Edgbaston Kumud dey - Accocs Green, B’ham Nani Gopal Seal - London Shipra Das - Sanfrancisco USA Sudhamou Bhowmic-Oldbury Brune Das - Sheldon, B’ham Joyanti Chakraborty - B’ham Rupali Ghosh - Harborne, B’ham Joyti Mukherjee -Coventry Mamata Dutta - Great Barr, B’ham Dr. Haripada Biswas -B’ham S. Banerjee - Small Heath, B’ham Nityananda Mukherjee - Solihull Monoranjan Choudhury - Lichﬁeld Dr. Rao - Selly Oak, B’ham Priya Bala Sarkar - Great Barr , B’ham (Mrs.) Rao - SellyOak, B’ham Mrinal Choudhury - Solihull Khudiram Das -Tysley, B’ham Bimal Kumar Goswami - Kingsbury Joly (Kaberi) Seal - London Jagadish Halder - Witton, B’ham Dhiraj Kr. Dey-Olton, Solihull Debaki Majumder -Solihull Dr. Modhu Sudan Choudhury Joya Halder - Witton, B’ham Sunit Mukherjee - Solihull Neil Roy - Stratford Dhiren Ghose -(Wolverhampton) Amar Nath Ghosal - Sheldon Dr. Ashok Dasgupta - Edgbaston Bibhuti Mookherjee - Witton, B’ham Ashis Kumar Mitra - Four Oak Sova Sen - Walsall Joyanti Mukherjee - Coventry Makhan Lal Dutta - Great Barr, B’ham Bhajan Mukherjee - W’mpton Dr. Prasanta K. Mukherjee - Walsall Deepak Mazumder - Solihull Arati Das - Solihull Loken Pal - Handsworth, B’ham Robin Basu - Solihull Parimal Dutta - Wolverhampton Dr. Tapas Kumar . Sengupta - Solihull Lord S. K. Bhattacharyya - Moseley Dr. Modhusudan Dey - Kingsbury Meena Mukherjee - Kolkata, India Supriya Biswas - Winson Green Dr. Kalyan Dutt - Edgbaston, B’ham Arup Bhowmick - Perry Barr, B’ham

An apology for any missing name 22 23 With Compliments & Best Wishes From “Save the Blind” We are profoundly grateful to everyone who so generously helped to raise funds for the destitute people in West Bengal

No other gift can bring more happiness than the Gift of Sight

Your help of any amount for these pre-eminent cause ..... may return the light to another person’s world. Please send a single or regular donation.

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‘Save the Blind’ PRIYA LODGE, GREAT BARR, BIRMINGHAM B43 6AA TSB Bank Plc.,S/c. 30-93-66 A/c. 0099664 ------www. bengalisinbirmingham.org.uk