n¢eh¡l, 04 A−ƒ¡hl, 2018, påÉ¡ 9:30 ¢j¢e−V! p§Q£fœ Contents Utsav Literary Committee and Disclaimer 2 pÇf¡cL£u / Editorial 3 Utsav Committee Members 4 Message from the Utsav Boardroom 5 Utsav Accounts 6 Program Schedule 7 Community News 8 Utsav Award Winners 11 L¢ha¡//Poems Three Poems Tapati Ray 14 ¢ae¢V L¢ha¡ a¾cÊ¡ h−¾cÉ¡f¡dÉ¡u 15 c¤¢V L¢ha¡ A¢i−oL l¡u 16 öe−R¡ −N¡ j¡? AeeÉ¡ cš-¢jœ 17 ¢ae¢V L¢ha¡ A¢i−oL e¡N 18 fËhå / Articles lb k¡œ¡ ¢eiÑ£L hp¤¤l¡u 21 Las Vegas Trip Siddhartha Dey 21 −jm¡ −cM¡l NÒf j”¥ l¡u−Q±d¤l£ 22 BcÉ¡f£W J BcÉ¡j¡ üfÀ¡ L¥j¡l 25 V¥L−l¡ Øj«¢a, qua NÒf Suc£f l¡u 27 HL¢V Bd¤¢eL l©fLb¡ (ljÉlQe¡) nË£−mM¡ i–¡Q¡kÑ 29 ¢pe¡C-Hl p§−kÑ¡cu −N±aj plL¡l 30 I Believe Debanshu Das 34 Dubai – The Sleepless City Srijon Datta 35 A Trip to Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House Shimika Basuroy 37 Einstein and Newton: A Glimpse to Their Barin Kumar 39 Achievements and Lives My World Cup Experience in Brazil Adi Choudri 41 Ghosts of Folsom Lake Manas Ray 43 Barcelona Diaries Sanhita Bandyopadhyay 47 Cosmopolitan Calcutta Pramila Kripalani 50 Travelling in the Fourth Dimension Sangita Biswas 51 Post Soccer World Cup Musings and Predictions Ajay Joshi 53 Pujo Shopping, Pandal Hopping, and Much More… Mala Paul 56 33G Notebook: Destination Iceland Biswanath Mukherjee 59 Hinduism and Meditation Swami Prapannananda 63 Brief History of Utsav 65 Utsav Membership Roster 67 −Q±l‰£ 2014 1 Chowrongee 2014 Literary Committee Rashmi Nandi Anupam Mitra Biswanath Mukherjee Somen Nandi Manas Ray Rajat Saha (Editor) Cover design by Debanshu Das Disclaimer The views and opinions of authors in this magazine do not necessarily state or reflect those of Utsav, Inc. For writings published in this magazine, Utsav does not warrant or assume any legal liability and responsibility for accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any information disclosed and/or published. Information provided is accurate as of the date of going to press; Utsav or Chowrongee is not responsible for any errors or omissions. Opinions expressed are those of individual authors. Advertisers are solely responsible for the advertisements, not Chowrongee or Utsav. Utsav Inc. 11230 Gold Express Drive P.O. Box 310-412 Gold River, CA 95670 www.utsavsac.org Chowrongee is published annually for Utsav members by Utsav, Inc., Sacramento, CA, USA (www.utsavsac.org) Printed at: J. Prassa Printers, 2313 C Street, Sacramento, CA 95816 Phone: (916) 446-7865; http://www.jpprinting.net Postmaster: If undelivered, please return to Utsav Inc., 11230 Gold Express Drive, P.O. Box 310-412, Gold River, CA 95670. −Q±l‰£ 2014 2 Chowrongee 2014 pÇf¡cL£u Editorial c§NÑ¡f§−S¡ H−p −Nmz Durga Puja with its message of victory of good over evil, peace and unity amongst mankind, is pÇf¡cL jn¡C-Hl Hh¡l Lmj dl¡l f¡m¡z −LE an integral part of our Bengali culture and our fs¥L e¡ fs¥L f¢œL¡l öl¦−a pÇf¡cL£u HLV¡ Q¡Cz way of life. The reading from the holy JV¡ e¡ q−m f¢œL¡ pÇf¨ZÑa¡ m¡i L−l e¡z scriptures, burning of dhup, beating of dhak, hRlV¡ −hn L¡V−m¡, −hn OVe¡hq¨mz La ¢L OVm! and blowing of the conch create an aura so glamorous and glittering that its attraction KKR IPL −m¡Lpi¡ −i¡−V f¡m¡hcm, Hl −Sa¡ towards all men and women, young and old, is (−p±l−il c−m e¡ b¡L¡V¡ k¢cJ c¤−d −N¡Qe¡l ja, ah¤ irresistible. −L¡mL¡a¡ ¢S−a−R HV¡C hs Lb¡!) - B−l¡ La ¢L! Bl ph f¡Ju¡l −pl¡ f¡Ju¡ qm ‘j‰m¡ue’z Eg, ¢L We, the members of Utsav, the Bengali association of Greater Sacramento, are −MmV¡C e¡ −cM¡m ISRO! H−Lh¡−l fËbj chance-HC organizing our very own Durga Puja which is h¡¢Sj¡a! entering its 13th year. We have a sense of deep ah¤ Hl j−dÉ ¢L An¢ep−ˆa ¢LR¥ −eC? M¤h B−R! association with this puja as all of us have a role h¡wm¡u "p¡lc¡"l L¥¢Vm ï¨L¥¢V B−R; l¡S°e¢aL An¡¢¿¹, to play. Some of us have management roles, j¡l¡j¡¢l, M¤−e¡M¤¢e B−R; ph¡l Ef−l −N¡−cl Efl some take part in acting, singing, painting, naru making, and what not. ¢ho−gy¡s¡l ja B−R k¡chf¤l ¢hnÄ¢hcÉ¡m−u f¤¢mn à¡l¡ R¡œ WÉ¡P¡−e¡l OVe¡z Chowrongee is Utsav’s ‘Pujo Sankhya’. This published effort depicts Utsav members’ ah¤ Hp−hl j−dÉC Bj¡−cl i¡m l¡M−a, i¡m skills as poet, writer, critic, composer, and so Ll−a, Bj¡−cl j¡ c§NÑ¡ Bp−Rez ¢h−c−n fËh¡p£ h¡P¡m£ on. For the past 13 years, every issue of j−e Be¾c ¢c−a j¡ Bp−Rez Hhw Evp−hl Evp−hl Chowrongee attempted to provide a window to p§Qe¡ Ll−a j¡ Bp−Rez Qm¤e ph cm¡c¢m i¨−m Bjl¡ the thoughts and dreams of the Bengalis living HC c¤¢V ¢ce fË¡Z M¤−m B—¡ −cC, M¡Ju¡-c¡Ju¡ L¢l, in the Greater Sacramento of California which Bl ¢e−iÑS¡m Be−¾c −i−p k¡Cz HC c¤¢ce - just were articulated by both kids and adults through −q¡LLmlhz their paintings, poems, stories, and articles. Some reminisced the Puja days of Kolkata, some i¡−m¡ b¡L¥e Hhw f§−S¡ Ef−i¡N Ll¦ez portrayed the future they intended to build in −Q±l‰£l œ−u¡cn fËL¡ne¡l j§m Q¡¢mL¡n¢š² pÇf¡cL USA. This year is no different. j™m£l fr −b−L ph¡C−L S¡e¡C öi n¡lc£u¡l fË£¢a, I offer thanks to all, especially to the little ö−iμR¡, J B¿¹¢lL A¢ie¾cez ones, for their contributions. I am also indeed grateful to all members of the Literary lSa p¡q¡ Committee whose untiring efforts are behind bringing light to this issue. We hope that you all find reading the various articles in this souvenir informative and above all enjoy this year’s celebrations. Rajat Saha −Q±l‰£ 2014 3 Chowrongee 2014 Utsav Committee Members Governing Body Members (GBM): Website Committee: Ajay Joshi (President) Sanhita Bandyopadhyay (Lead) Sanjib Nayak (Vice President) Santana Das Anima Kumar (Treasurer) Koushik Das Sanhita Bandyopadhyay (Cultural Secretary) Mala Paul Manas Ray (Public Relations) Snehungshu Guha Community Council Members (CCM) Utsav Youth Group: and Election Committee: Neha Joshi (Lead) Adi Choudri Sharod Nandi Biswanath Mukherjee Sunoy Nandi Somen Nandi Natasha Chanda Ayananta Chowdhury Literary Committee: Rashmi Nandi Aditya Chowdhury Anupam Mitra Debanshu Das Biswanath Mukherjee Rinita Mukherjee Somen Nandi Sharon Sarkar Manas Ray Rupa Chowdhury (Coordinator) Rajat Saha (Editor) Mitra Choudri (Coordinator) Cultural Committee: Fundraising Committee: Sanhita Bandyopadhyay (Lead) Ajay Joshi (Lead) Ajay Joshi Anima Kumar Nupur Joshi Sanhita Bandyopadhyay Poonam Jadhav Sanjib Nayak Mala Paul Manas Ray Snehungshu Guha Udayan Chanda Adi Choudri Suvra Mukherjee Joy Mukherjee Debolina Simmi Sarkar Soumya Mallick Puja Committee: Anima Kumar (Lead) Food Committee: Mitra Choudri Sanjib Nayak (Lead) Subir Sarkar Santana Das Adi Choudri Rupa Chowdhury Udayan Chanda Mukta Kar Seema Chanda Joy Mukherjee Sanhita Bandyopadhyay Registration Committee: Pradosh Chakraborty Prodosh Chakraborty (Lead) Anima Kumar Biswanath Mukherjee Debolina Simmi Sarkar Sumanta Ghosh Barin Kumar Subhra Gima −Q±l‰£ 2014 4 Chowrongee 2014 Message from the Utsav Boardroom On behalf of the Governing Body, welcome The Food Committee is going to cook to Utsav’s 13th Sharadiya celebration. for the entire Durga Puja weekend again this The days are beginning to get a little year. They raised the bar considerably last shorter, there is a nip in the air, and year with their superb performance, and plan KashPhool have made their annual to raise it even higher this year. I am sure auspicious appearance in our community. that they will meet the heightened Yes, SharatKaal is here, and Ma Durga will expectations of the community this year! I soon arrive on Earth from Mount Kailash. encourage all members to come forward and As Ma watches from Kailash, Bengalis all participate in this truly-communal effort. over the world are preparing for her arrival. The Pujo Committee will ensure that Durga Puja is finally here. Durga Puja is grand and that all prayers and We began the year with our Saraswati rituals are performed appropriately. Puja celebration in February which included None of this would be possible without a cultural program dedicated to the memory the support and generous contributions of of Manna Dey and Suchitra Sen, and which our members and sponsors. Please come was enjoyed by all. Our Picnic and Annual forward and contribute in any way you can. General Body Meeting followed in August. This is, after all, your organization, and it Even the weather Gods relented for a day becomes what you make of it. this year, so that members could enjoy their In a few months, this Governing Body day out at Folsom Lake! will complete its two-year term.