President's Message
I want to wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope 2002 is joyous, healthy and prosperous for all. With the new year comes a new beginning for the BAGC.
Our parent’s generation created this organization and it is my hope that our generation cannot only maintain but also expand the BAGC for future generations to appreciate. My main objective this year is to see more of the youth and young professionals get involved. In order to achieve that goal we have created the community service committee headed by Nina Palit. This will allow our members, both young and old, an opportunity to contribute their services and talents to the community in which we live in. Also, I would like to see the Bengali community increase its interaction more with other South Asian communities around the Chicagoland area. With this in mind, we hope to establish a new event for all South Asian communities to participate in.
While we are excited to create new avenues for the BAGC, our main focus is to continue the excellent pujas and other traditional events that we have been providing for the past 25 years.
We have an amazing committee and with your continued support we will have a successful year. As always, your advice and opinions are welcome.
I hope to see you all at Saraswati Puja on Saturday, February 23, 2002 at Streamwood High School.
Last year, 2001, was a difficult year, which tested the strongest human qualities in us; our power of withstanding shock and pain, our courage, resolve and strength in the face of extreme adversaries. Firstly the recession that hit the US economy cast a pall of gloom and apprehension all over. Then came the September 11th holocaust, which shocked, horrified and traumatized the nation. Within our community too, we faced tensions and tragedies. We lost Jagat Datta, a veteran Bengali of our community, so warm-hearted, caring and fun-loving, which made him so popular with everyone. Achinta Ray went through a major surgery and is recuperating. While Partha Sen is still fighting a valiant battle in Northwestern Hospital. What shines out amidst this tragedies and trials, is the human spirit which stood up against all challenges, not to be vanquished. As Paul Robson said, “We shall overcome some day!” And in Tagore’s words:
Let us hope for recovery, peace and happiness in this new year. In this year’s ‘Samaj Sangbad’ there will be a variety of fare for all sections of our community. Apart from Community News, there will be poetry and prose, sports section, culinary column, crosswords, write-ups on Bengali culture, and one section exclusively for kids – by, for and of the kids of BAGC. The newsletter will be a medium of sharing news, views, knowledge and entertainment, appealing to all. With your support and contributions we hope this will succeed.
SANJAY BASU NAMED RHODES SCHOLARThe BAGC would like to congratulate Sanjay Basu of Lisle on being one of the 32 students in the nation selected to receive the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship for 2002. In October of this year, he will begin graduate study at Oxford University in England where he will spend two years pursuing an M. Phil in Development Studies. During the school years, he will complete coursework in this subject, and during the summer, he will work on his thesis. Sanjay is in his final year of undergraduate study at MIT majoring in neuroscience. Congratulations Sanjay, and Good Luck!
AMIT'S ACHIEVEMENTAmit Paul, son of Ajit and Priti Paul, has been invited to attend his High School Years at IMSA (Illinois Math And Science Academy). His name has been selected from the students of six school districts of Glendale Heights and its neighboring area. He was also offered scholarship to participate the challenged academic program of Driscoll Catholic High School this year. We encourage him for his achievements and wish him a bright future.
COMMUNITY SERVICE AND THE BAGCAfter September 11th one of the things which we heard a lot was how the Muslim community was being singled out not only because the terrorists were Muslims but also because many Americans did not know very much about the Muslim community. We all may some members of our own community who were targets of various racist slurs because people thought that we were of Middle Eastern descent. This made us wonder how well people knew the Bengali community and whether or not there could be a way to make ourselves known in a positive manner outside of our community. We all interact with “the outside” community though work or school but often much of our social interaction is with other Bengalis or Indians. This year we thought that focusing on community service would be an ideal way for us to make a contribution to the Bengali community as well as the community at large.
This year the BACG committee has several goals for Community Service. We would first like to have some events where we help our own community. Perhaps by facilitating ways where elderly parents of our members can meet and spend the day watching movies, playing cards or just having tea and “adda”. The second goal is to volunteer more in the outside community. We would like to have one volunteer event a month or every other month where we can go as a group and give our time for a few hours on the weekend. Finally we would like to raise some funds for a project for a charitable group in India. A little money can go a long way in helping a school or a village in India and if we each just even gave one dollar at Durga Puja we could make a substantial contribution to a good cause.
We all lead busy lives and don’t want to spend our precious free time on some depressing volunteer activities. This is why we are going to try to find fun events where we can meet with other members and do something good. Some volunteer activities that we are trying to arrange are working with Habitat for Humanity to build a house in the Spring, cleaning up a playground or park, and helping one of the curators at the Field Museum catalog artifacts from their Indian collection.
We really hope that members will participate in our community service events. Many of us have a lot of positive things to contribute to the BACG and the community at large. Let’s use this year as an opportunity to help others and raise our profile in the community.
REMEMBERING DR. JAGAT DATTADr. Jagat K. Datta, a member of our community expired on Saturday, Dec.29, 2001. He is survived by his wife Monisha (a past President of BAGC), his daughters Mamata, Mousumi and sons, Moloy and Prodeep. Our sincere condolences are for his family.
Dr. Datta was born in Purulia, West Bengal. He started to practice Medicine in the Elgin area and continued until three years ago when he had to give up practicing due to failing health.
Dr. Datta has been known for always being available with unassuming warm friendliness to assist whoever asked for his help. The uniqueness of his professional service to our community was characterized by not demanding or accepting payment for most care.
On a personal note, Jagat was a classmate of mine in Calcutta Medical College as well as of Shyamal Bose, Brojen Agarwala, Syamal Data and Badridas Taparia. A jolly good fellow, he was both admired by, and annoying to, our wives, who he loved to tease. He enjoyed cooking for others. A gracious host, he entertained guests same way whether he was living on a resident’s salary in Oak Lawn or, Iron Hedge, their mansion in West Dundee.
We wish his family the strength and resolve to pull together and commit to the legacy he left behind.
MINUTES OF BAGC—GBM 2001
1. Adoption of 25th Anniversary Logo
Since this logo was created especially for the 25th anniversary, the consensus was that the association will continue to use the old logo after 2001. This will alleviate problems in any future anniversaries.
2. NABC Update
There was general discussion about hosting NABC in Chicago in 2001 and the problems associated were due primarily with the lack of response from CAB officers. However, it has been agreed that the committee, formed for this purpose, should be allowed to pursue the issue of securing Chicago as the host city for 2004 NABC.
3. Joining of Midwest Bengali Association
It has been proposed and agreed by the members that BAGC join Mid America Bengali Association (MABA) for $ 100.00 per year. This will provide major support for MABA, and in future years BAGC may host Banga Mela.
4. BAGC Durga Bari / Kali Bari
After significant discussion about the feasibility of having a BAGC building, the following decisions were taken with the approval of general membership.
A committee under the chairmanship of Manatosh Banerjee will be formed by December 15, 2001. This committee would develop a timeline, identify the type of property that would be appropriate along with the cost estimate. The findings will be presented at the 2002 Saraswati Puja.
5. Election / Selection of Special Fund Committee Members
Four new special fund committee members were selected to represent four different geographic zones in Chicago. They are in addition to the President, Treasurer and Secretary of the current Executive committee who will have automatic right to the Special Fund Committee membership.
The new members and the areas of representation are as following:
Samar Kundu – North & Chicago, Shouvik Dutta – Northwest, Kalyan Maitra – South and Mono Mazumder – West & Southwest.
BIRTH
Congratulation to Arup and Sonali Biswas, on the birth of their son, Anshul, born on November 3, 2001.
WEDDING
Congratulations to the following newly married couples:
Kanishka Chaudhuri and Sancheeta Ghosh Roy tied the knot at Kolkata on December 10, 2001.
Devasish Das married Shuktara Sen at Kolkata on January 20, 2001.
25TH ANNVERSARY
We extend our congratulations to Alak and Anjali Bhattacharya on their 25th wedding Anniversary last December. We wish the happy couple the very best for their lives together.
It is the day of spelling bee competition at Sumana’s elementary school. All of fourth and fifth graders have to participate. As her classmates take their turns on the stage, Sumana feels sleepy. As the words fly around, they change into birds, occasionally sitting on the shoulder of the teacher. “Sumana, wake up! A word is nothing but a bird in the tree!” A strange voice whispers in her ear. She wakes up remembering the story of the prince Arjun and his teacher Drona during a shooting competition. Drona placed a clay bird on a tree. After all his one hundred and five brothers failed miserably, Arjun got ready to shoot with his bow and arrow. Drona asked Arjun, “What do you see?” Arjun said, “The left eye of the bird.” “What else? The tree? The leaves? Your brothers?” Drona asked. As the arrow hit the clay bird’s eye, he answered, “No, just the left eye.” As Sumana settles her mind back to the stage, her teacher announces, “Sumana, your spelling word is heredity.” Everything vanishes from her mind. She can clearly see the word “heredity” on spelling list that she left at home. Now, all she has to do now is to read it out.
KALYANI LOCAL TRAINIn India traveling by train is very common. The Indian Railways is the largest company in the world in terms of the number of employees. There are some very good trains like Satabdi Express, Rajdhani Express, and some good ones like Gitanjali Express, Kerala Express, but there are some funny ones like Kalyani Local. Local trains are very common in India, especially in big cities. They are crowded. Sometimes too crowded! I will tell you a funny incident that happened at Kolkata’s Sealdah Station in 1997. I was visiting Kalyani near Kolkata. After having a lot of fun there, we picked a local train - Kalyani Local - to get back. About 8-10 people – my parents, grandparents and some friends boarded the train. The two-hour train ride was enjoyable at first. Then gradually the train became very crowded and it was not pleasant any more. However as the train started nearing Sealdah, lots of passengers got off the train at nearby stations. We were once again comfortable. As the train approached Sealdah station, strange things started happening. The train suddenly stopped just outside the station - a number of people jumped off the train. After a halt the train started entering Sealdah. Suddenly the lights went out and it was quite dark in the train inside the covered roof of the station. It was office time. Before the train came to a halt a large crowd of passengers for the next train gushed in even before the inside passengers got a chance to get out. My dad quickly reached for the luggage. The train was so dark and crowded that I completely lost sense of where I was. After a while I realized I was in a corner with all strange people around me with no member of my family in sight. Suddenly someone picked me up from my seat and threw me on top of people in the crowd, to help me get out I suppose! I bumped my head on the ceiling. Then I started crawling on people’s shoulders and holding on to their greasy hairs for support. Finally I jumped on someone’s back who was carrying some luggage. Then I dropped on the floor and reached for the door. Finally I saw my grandmother calling me from outside the train. I jumped off on the platform to reach her but could not find my parents. We started wondering what happened. Half the family members and half the luggage were missing! Our maid servant was nowhere to be found. We were worried and dumbfounded and kept waiting on the platform in the midst of the crowd. The train moved away. After quite some time my dad came looking for us. It turned out that there were platforms on both sides of the train and half our family jumped out with luggage on one side and half on the other side! Finally we were all reunited. That was a scary day, and I will always remember it.
CHRISTMAS: HINDU STYLEChristmas time has just passed, and what a great Yule time it was! Christmas, a magnificent holiday that everyone loves. I mean, what’s not to love, a time of giving, warm toasty fires roaring, hot chocolate, white winter wonderland, and not to mention the presents. Yes, Christmas is a holiday for everyone, and for some people, the most wonderful time of the year. But what is Christmas’ significance to us, the Hindus living in the U.S.? After all, Christmas really is a Christian holiday. I thought about it during this holiday season, and asked myself, ‘Do we really celebrate Christmas?’
Unlike traditional Christian families, I never attend church, have a big turkey feast, or drink eggnog anytime around December 25th. The way perhaps most of us (Hindus) celebrate Christmas may be in contrast from traditional Christian customs, but yet we try to follow as many of the non–religious aspects of the celebration as we can. For example, every year, my family puts up a Christmas tree, and open presents on Christmas Day. Until I was in 4th Grade, my dad never failed to put cookies and milk for Santa every Christmas Eve. Every Christmas eve we go to a friend’s house where we have a gift exchange, and we even have a “mashi or mesho” dress up as Santa to take pictures with. Instead of turkey or ham, we relish a nice Indian dinner, some years if mashis are too tired of partying, we settle with a carryout Chinese, and in the evening, we have a good old fashion “adda mara”. It’s a lot of fun, and it gets a little Christmas cheer around.
Every year, I get tapped on the shoulder and asked, “Do you celebrate Christmas?” I’m sure many of you get asked the same question. Webster’s defines: ‘Celebrate’ as ‘to observe a day or commemorate an event with ceremonies or festivities.’ As per what I described, I have much reason to say I “Yes, I do celebrate Christmas”, as well as many others. It interested me to know how other parts of the world celebrate events during this time. So I did a little research and found that many people around the world, who aren’t necessarily Christians, have different Christmas customs. Some Chinese families celebrate Christmas (or what some call the Spring Festival) by hanging paper flower ornaments on different trees with chains and lanterns, and watch a marvelous fireworks show in the evening. Non Hebrew Egyptians usually spend their day in an Orthodox Church praying, and for the non-Christians, they have a nice feast at dinner. Even in Greenland, Christmas is celebrated by eating Mattak (whale blubber) and playing games outdoors.
A recent newspaper article says that Christmas in the U.S. has become a more of a commercial holiday rather than the holy festival it once was. If Christmas weren’t the commercial holiday it is, all non-Christians wouldn’t have much of a reason to celebrate. So when December comes around next time, wish a fellow person a Happy Holidays, whether they celebrate Christmas, Hanukah, or Kwanza, and for Christmas time, wish people a Merry Christmas no matter how they celebrate Christmas! Or even wish someone a, ‘Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun’ as they say in Cantonese, or maybe even a Russian ‘Pozdrevlyayu es prazdnikom Rozhdestva iis Novim Godom!’
Learn how to say Merry Christmas in …
Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!
French: Joyeux Noel!
Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka!
Philippines: Maligayan Pasko!
Brazilian:Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo!
Spanish: Feliz Navidad!
My grandmother used say that anyone can cook a tasty dish with a lot of spices, butter and cream, however only those who are truly good cooks can prepare just as a delectable dish with no oil, butter and with minimal spices. With this advice in mind, I created this delicious low-Calorie chicken recipe which you can enjoy guilt-free.
Ingredients
2 lbs. chicken - boneless, skinless, absolutely trimmed-fat, cubed
1 cup onion – dehydrated, fried
2 tablespoons ginger - grated fresh or powder or paste
1 ½ tablespoon garlic – granulated or crushed
10 cloves – crushed
5 kabaab chini (Allspice)
10 green peppercorn - crushed
1 tablespoon red pepper - crushed
1 tablespoon green chilies - crushed
½ cup fat free plain yogurt
4 bay leaves
¾ cup tomato- cubed, microwaved for 1 min
1 tablespoon mint leaf – chopped
2 tablespoons basil leaf – chopped
2 tablespoons Shan Fry Gosht Masala
1 teaspoon sugar or ½ packet sugar substitute
salt to taste
Method
Except for the tomato cubes, mint and basil leaves, combine all the ingredients. Cook in high heat in a large Dutch oven, making sure not to overcook the chicken. Add the remaining ingredients one-minute before chicken is done. If you really want to put oil, add 1 tablespoon of mastered oil and blend well. Garnish with raw red onion slices and freshly squeezed lemon. Bon Appétit.
Time ebbs away
years, lives
heaving green sea
leaving shifting sands
drenched in remembered happiness
aquiver with remembered pain.
Curved shell smiles
hidden in quick silver dunes
tears made forever pearls far away in the deep
dream ruins buried in remains
of wave swept sand castles.
Words, thoughts, deeds
borne on high tide
resplendent, resonant, regal
towering phosphorous crests
alight, joyous, proud
but an instant
then shattered smithereens
of writhing long agos.
Struggles, choices, victories once
then unforeseen, unforgettable deaths
undeserved, unlucky
inevitable weaknesses and defeats
totally human in suffering
utterly bare, undefended in loss.
And yet the hungry will to overcome
perhaps oozing ego
perhaps naked courage
always raw effort, biting movement
unceasing waves of life tide
flowing in and on
ever.
The doyen of Indian Cinema, Ashok Kumar, born Kunjalal Ganguli at Bhagalpur, Bihar, whom seven decades of acting made Dadamoni of Bollywood, breathed his last on December 10 at Mumbai at the ripe old age of 90.
His acting talent was first recognized when he was only 12 - a stage performance securing him a reward of a 'siki' equivalent to quarter of a rupee, from his maternal uncle, a handsome prize at the prevailing price-level those days. Ashok Kumar is the first Indian hero to act in the typically romantic Hollywoodean style, his image remaining virtually untouched by subsequent challenges from greats like Raj Kapur, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand. In Hindi film world, he was the first hero to act in a negative role, in 'Kismet' which ran to packed houses in a Kolkata hall for years. His voice matched his looks - some of the songs he sang in films were on people's lips for months - 'Mai Ban ki Chiriya', 'Nache Man Mora' and 'Chali re Chali Tera Gaon Chali re' are instances.
He grew up in Khandwa, M.P. with his brothers Kishore Kumar and Anup Kumar, before he came to Kolkata to study law but fate ordained otherwise. Shasadhar Mukherjee, his future brother-in-law, brought him to Bombay, to join Filmalaya as a laboratory assistant. He thereafter took up the work of an asst. cameraman and followed this with work in various film-related areas, till he substituted the sick, original hero of 'Jeevan Naiya', a Himangshu Ray film under the banner of Bombay Talkies. His next film, 'Achhyut Kanya', where he played a Brahmin boy in love with an untouchable girl, played by Devika Rani, became an epoch-making movie and Ashok Kumar never looked back. Though basically a hero, he played roles of villain, comedian or character artist with equal ease, never giving up his other interests like homeopathy, astrology, painting, appreciation and acquisition of vintage cars. He was a keen sound engineer and experimented with gadgets with the curiosity of a child.
Besides Hindi, Bengali and English, this legendary actor could speak German and French with ease. He was the first person from the celluloid world to recieve the Padmasree and his ultimate trophy was the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
He had acted opposite great heroines like Devika Rani (Jeevan Naiya, Achchhyut Kanya, Janmabhoomi, Ijjat, Prem Kahani), Leela Chitnis (Kangan, Bandhan, Azaad, Jhoola), Madhubala (Mahal) and so many others. With his brothers, Anup and Kishore, he acted in the fun-packed 'Chalti Ka Naam Gari'. He has acted in a number of TV serials of which probably the best-known is his anchoring of 'Hum Log'. He had acted in more than 300 films and was responsible for directing and producing a few of them.
In between his acting in Hindi films, he had acted in many Bengali films, starting with 'Chandrasekhar' under the direction of Devaki Bose, with Kanan Devi opposite him. Who can forget their duet 'Kon Anadi Kaler Srote Bhasa, Mora Duti Pran' in the said film? This was followed by 'Samar' directed by Nitin Bose. In 'Hospital', he had acted with Suchitra Sen under Sushil Mazumdar's direction. In 'Haate Bazare' directed by Tapan Sinha, Baijayantimala and Ajitesh Bandyopadhyay were with him and in Shakti Samant's 'Ananda Ashram', Uttam Kumar acted with him. His performance in 'Haate Bazare' won for him the President's Award that year. His other notable films include 'Deedar', 'Howrah Bridge', 'Jewel Thief', 'Ashirbad', 'Aradhana', and 'Guddi'.
That he was a great judge of films is evident from his selection of National Award as Chairman of the Jury - 'Dakhal' by Goutam Ghose.
The other directors with whom he worked include Bimal Roy ('Parinita', 'Bandini'), Hrishikesh Mukherjee ('Ashirbad', 'Mili', 'Satyakam') and B.R. Chopra ('Afsana', 'Kanoon'). Writer-Director Nabendu Ghosh penned his biography and made the telefilm 'Anmol Ratan' on him.
As anchor of TV serial 'Hum Log' he became so popular that he daily received gunny bag full of mails, many of them dealing with family problems and seeking solutions. These later became subject of a doctoral study in the University of California.
The phenomenal actor loved a good life, had acted with every leading lady of his time and switched to character acting when past fifty, jokingly refusing to act against 14-year olds.
Indian Cinema would never have been what it is without the likes of Ashok Kumar. May his soul rest in peace.
Wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year!
Hi, I am the new Sports Coordinator for BAGC for 2002. This article in the BAGC newsletter is a new column dedicated to sports only. It was probably high time that we had something like this in our newsletter, and I thank all the committee members and the newsletter editors for their support and positive attitude towards this. With all your help and support, I do hope to create some fun and excitement among our members during this year.
I have never known anyone who does not like sports and games. Sure, all of us have our different picks for our favorite games, but the universal love towards sports in general among both men and women makes my job much easier. Easier to promote the games and tournaments that we organize throughout the year, but more demanding at the same time because everyone expects this easy job to be performed without any hiccups. At the end of 2002, our success will be measured not only by how many members we have been able to motivate to participate in the tournaments and games, but also by how many non-participants we have been able to involve in the process. The non-participants, who may be spectators or supporters, will play a very important role in making each event enjoyable and exciting. Therefore as much as I would like all of you to register and sign up in the tournaments as players, I would also encourage you to come and watch the games, cheer a player or team (or boo if you like), create a frenzy, and have a lot of fun.
In the last couple of years, BAGC has organized six tournaments in the following games:
- Bridge
- Carrom
- Table Tennis
- Tennis
- Golf
- Bowling
These events have been popular, and they will continue to remain so. We also have had soccer matches during picnic emulating the age old rivalry between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan. We'll have that too, albeit with a lot more zeal. But I also intend to try and introduce other sports like cricket, badminton, volleyball, pool/billiards. I also have in mind an idea to organize a one-day five-a-side soccer tournament sometime in late spring. I will definitely need your help if I am to be barely successful in doing all that. I intend to involve the ladies a lot more. Something like having a bowling night or miniature golf outing for the ladies, followed by dinner: sounds like real fun! A common interest in a particular game shared by both husband and wife eliminates all nuptial strife arising out of the husband's desire to leave his family behind and go play with his pals! I am sure all couples will agree with me on this point. So, ladies, this is your year, when you can show your hubbies or male friends that you are more athletic and free-spirited than what they ever imagined. The challenge is for real: just grab the opportunities! This is my request to you: if you are one who loves to participate in sports, please contact me. We can use your expertise and deep knowledge in a particular sport to organize it more efficiently and correctly. Even if you do not consider yourself to be "good" in a game, but you love that game, I need you too! You are free to drown me with your ideas and opinions. I guarantee that I'll have my ears open for each and every one of you. United, we can make a difference, and allow me to reiterate, have lots and lots of fun.
Please send news regarding achievement, award, birth, wedding, death, bereavement of our BAGC members at newsletter@bagc.net.
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