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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)


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


Smt. Pramita Mallick (contd. from Page 1)

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


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

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

[email protected]

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-

Page 5


Ronnie Das

in Action

On the drawing board

At the camera

With the viewers

At the studio


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


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


The Change by Tuhinkana Das


The Change (Continued from Page 7)

From the editorial board:

পরুো আসরে -

আসুন আমরা দিগন্ত পুজ া সংখ্যার নয তৈরী হই

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


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

- share your thoughts, dreams, joy, sorrow, pictures, stills, events, letters with

family and friends. Help us expand our culture beyond the boundaries. You can

reach DIGANTA Editorial Board by writing to [email protected].

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

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