For years we have imagined what BAGC would be like in the year 2000 and now here we are. While the format, scope and diversity of our activities have expanded with our growing and changing population, the basis of our Association solidly remains family and shared identity. Recently, we contacted Sukomal Talukdar, the first president, and asked him to recall how BAGC got started. Mr. Talukdar was instru-mental in forming the Association and has fond memories of those days.

Why was BAGC founded? During the 70's, we perceived that over the years we would need something in order to maintain our Bengali identity. We needed some kind of "strong thread" to connect our posterity with our culture, tradition, history and philosophy.

Were you worried about losing our identity in the "melting pot"? We argued about the "melting pot" and rather viewed ourselves as a component in the "salad bowl", keeping our own specificity and making the whole more wholesome. We discussed, argued and debated - for hours, days and months among ourselves to identify a vehicle and a process that would meet our requirements and our expectations.

Why was it necessary to formalize this need? We thought that our needs would be served more effectively through a group or association incorporated by the laws of our newly adopted country. We believed in and envisioned the value of togetherness for our identity, for our strength, and for our safety in a society.

Soma Das, Ph.D. Assistant Professor and Director, Molecular Genetics Laboratory, University of Chicago

Tell us about your work I work at the University of Chicago in the department of human genetics. My primary responsibility includes running a DNA diagnostic laboratory where a lot of my time is spent in the development of new DNA-based tests and techniques for diagnosing genetic disease and cancer. I also have a research laboratory where I am investigating genetic changes in endometrial cancer with the ultimate goal of improving diagnosis and prognosis of this disease.

What is your educational background? After completing my B.Sc. in Health Sciences in Nigeria, I chose not to pursue becoming a medical doctor (my primary fear at the time was the odd hours doctors have to put in, night shifts and lack of sleep; I wanted to avoid this - how naive I was!). Instead, I went on to further studies in genetics (my interest in it started in medical school). I did graduate work in Canada and Scotland. and got my Ph.D. at University College, London, and worked on the identification of genes important in childhood leukemias. I did my post-doc in human genetics at UC San Francisco.

What do you like most about your current job? I like the novelty of what I do a lot. We specialize in a rare genetic disease for which there is very little genetic testing clinically. I learn a ton, interact with many research labs, and feel that our work is really beneficial to the genetics community and patients with these diseases. It is exhausting and stressful but a good feeling.

What brought you to Chicago? While in San Francisco, my husband got a job at the Univ. of Illinois, Chicago. Although I didn't have a job lined up, we figured I could find something here. We have been here 3 1/2 years.

Why did your family emigrate from India? My parents came to Nigeria in the mid sixties when there was a large recruit-ment of academics from India to various universities. The plan was to only stay a few years, but I guess my parents enjoyed the country and my father enjoyed his job and they're still there.

Describe someone who had a profound impact on your life. My father. This didn't really occur to me until you asked, but almost everything I have done and where I am today, is largely due to his influence. His love for his profession (pharmacy) was a constant presence in our family as I was growing up. I used to find his laboratory and office fascinating, and he would take the time to show me and my sister how different things in his lab worked... I think it all started there. He encouraged me to move on to genetics and cancer research when I was debating whether to give up medical school.

What historical experience will you tell your grandchildren? The downfall of Nigeria. I have experienced it at its peak of prosperity and lived through its gradual downfall in the hands of corrupt government. Today Nigeria is in tatters, it will never regain that power and prestige it had in the sixties and early seventies.

Now that the holidays have come and gone with more than their fair share of pomp and circumstance, if you have a little extra time in the evenings or weekends, this is the perfect time to make a cup of your favorite tea and catch up on your reading.The last ten years have seen a proliferation of texts by Indian authors writing in English; a great number of them have won awards and critical acclaim for their books. Even more satisfying, many Indian authors have seen their readership grow exponentially in America as they explore complicated socio-political and socio-cultural issues relevant to Indians living abroad. A collection of eleven short stories, Arranged Marriage (Anchor Books, in New York, 1995) by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, explores the emotional and intellectual strength and frailty of women who have recently emigrated to the United States. These are mostly stories of circumstance and identity: how does America, and being married in America compare to living as a married woman in India? The underlying theme of each story investigates how love-or the absence of it-might shape one's self identity. Divakaruni's storytelling is conversational and easy in tone; her fluid sense of narrative and dialogue are straightforward, concerned with the telling of a story. Her insightful, diverse, and highly entertaining collection of tales is poignantly honest, and her characters exhibit such genuine interiority that you might feel as if you already knew these women even before opening this book. Divakaruni is also the author of The Mistress of Spices (New York: Anchor Books, 1997) and Sister of My Heart (London: Doubleday, 1999). Sunetra Gupta's intensely beautiful novel, Memories of Rain (Grove Press, New York, 1992), is for readers who like to savor their sentences and sift carefully through the subtle poetry of language. Often compared to both Tagore and Virginia Woolf, Gupta's exquisite writing tumbles and spills through a dreamy stream-of-consciousness narrative, while the story she weaves is a simple, age-old one about an unfaithful marriage and the complicated heartbreak that accompanies it. The story unravels between Calcutta and London; Moni's older brother brings a friend, Anthony, home one rain-drenched monsoon afternoon. Moni and Anthony fall in love but once she moves to London, each fails the other's expectations, and as their relationship deteriorates, the narrative exposes the tortured yet vastly different sensibilities of the main characters. What is astonishing about this book is the way Gupta is able to communicate the brutal and beautiful intricacies of love, as well as the psychology of cruelty and adoration, that humans inflict upon one another. Full of luminous, soulful moments, Memories of Rain is Gupta's first novel. Born in Calcutta in 1965, she grew up in Africa and the U.K and works as a research scholar at Oxford. She is also the author of The Glassblower's Breath (London: Phoenix, 1993).

The annual General Body Meeting was convened on November 6, 1999 in Streamwood. The highlights of the meeting are the following:

• The Special Fund Committee was elected.

• The year 2000 Executive Committee was authorized to negotiate hosting the North-American Bengali Conference (NABC) in Chicago in the next available year (2003). A proposal to pursue other conferences was rejected.

• The new Committee was authorized to utilize any budget surplus from 1999 to replace our Saraswati pratima and potentially our Durga pratima.

• The new Committee was directed to evaluate and recommend a specific proposal for a building for BAGC.

The next meeting of Unmesh is on Friday, February 4th at the home of Girin Roy.

Contact Sunanda Bose about Bangla classes in Downers Grove, which run every Sunday from 11-12noon.

Sanjit and Rina Ray celebrate the arrival of a granddaughter, Diya, born on January 3rd to Rupa and Kuntal Chatterjee.

Here we would like to share some "fast" or "fusion" recipes from our members. Send in your favorites!

Remove as much fat and skin from the chicken as possible and make a few slits. Spray all over with cooking oil, mix rest of ingredients and rub all over chicken. If possible, let chicken marinate 1-2 hours or overnight. Place chicken in pressure cooker and cook pressurized for 5 minutes. Remove lid, test for doneness and cook for longer if necessary (note: chicken will cook more quickly when marinated). After chicken is thoroughly cooked, remove lid and brown chicken on stove top until juices are absorbed. Serve with fried rice mixed with frozen vegetables for a quick, nutritious and healthy dinner.

Hello! We got off to a fast start with an evening at Dave & Busters on January 14th. If you were able to make it, you know we had a great time together. If you missed it, don't worry because we have lots more to come! We need your involvement in the canned food drive at Saraswati Puja. The week after puja we are planning to "skate at State" (all ages) to make the most of winter. Come join us. Talking with some of you, I know there are many great ideas for activities and events. Young professionals can get to know each other better, discover common interests and work together. Let's keep up the dialog and have a fantastic year for BAGC youth and young professionals!

Dear Didi,
I am a senior in high school, currently apply-ing to colleges for the next year. I am having a disagreement with my parents about my studies. I've been getting good grades in most classes, but what I'm really interested in is acting. I have been in two school plays and they have been more interesting than all my other classes.

I have to choose a major for college and I really want to study acting, but my parents are against the idea. They say that I get good grades in math and science, and they want me to go into engineering or pre-med. I could probably take those classes, and maybe even get good grades, but I wouldn't be all that interested, and I would always wonder if I had chosen the right course for my life. I think I could convince my mother to let me go into theater, but my father says he won't pay for college so I can have fun being in plays all day. What should I do to convince my parents that I'm serious about this?
- Caught the Acting Bug

Dear Caught,
Your parents are probably worried that if you went into acting that you would have a tough time being independent financially and supporting yourself. They want you to be happy, but to them part of being happy is having a stable job and solid prospects for the future. I have good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that they may be right about your chances of being successful as an actor, as compared with a doctor or an engineer. How many Indian-American actors can you name? Me neither.

The good news is that that doesn't mean you have to give up acting altogether. For one thing, most schools permit you to be pretty general about your chosen major in the beginning. Many schools encourage students to take a wide variety of courses. That means that you could take steps toward pleasing your father by taking math and science, along with theater courses, in your freshman year, to find out how that suits you. In addition, even if you end up majoring in math or science, you can still continue to take acting courses periodically. If it turns out that doesn't satisfy your acting bug, your best bet is to demonstrate to your parents your ability to support yourself with your chosen major. That might mean taking jobs that have nothing to do with acting, or working in some offstage capacity. You will probably have to sacrifice something one way or another, but if an acting career means that much to you, it will be worth it.

The Schaumburg Review (Jan. 20) featured a story on Mausumi Roy with the subtitle "Dancer brings cultural heritage to life". She recently won an Artist Fellowship Award from the Illinois Arts Council for her work in preserving and teaching traditional Indian dance. The article very positively portrays India's heritage with a lengthy explanation of the history and tradition of Odissi dance. Congratulations, Mausumi!