Happy Puja again to everyone. Today is Ostomi/Navami. We went to the Durga-Puja-tholi in Houston yesterday. Just felt like the old days again. There were dhak-dhol-xonkho, aaroti, pushpanjali - all of it. And then the food of course. :-)
The Bengalis in Houston are doing a wonderful job - they are so modern and yet so traditional. Of course, they are big in numbers. The "Puja-Mondop" is a round shaped permanent building, beautifully decorated and the Protimas were brought from Kolkata a few years ago - and look just like the ones that we saw back home - of course nowadays I know from the newspapers that they are using many more hi-tech techniques back home. The festival is for 3 days that include puja, proxad, cultural programs, lunch, dinner, tea/snacks - everything with a budget of $ 70.00 ($ 75.00 at the door) per family - for all of it. Of course all this is possible mainly because they own the land/buildings. It is interesting to note that the Bengali community had started this project only a few years back right from scratch and now they have permanent building for Puja, and also a huge Hall for cultural programs, and also constructed a huge parking lot. One of the hilights of course is that the Puja Committee does not have any debts, I hear. It seems that the engineers and architects donated their time and some of the Bengali business community also donated materials for the whole project. Throughout the year, they have been able to provide other services to the community like, teaching Bengali, hinduism, and Tagore to the children and produce some culture-conscious children. They have also undertaken many projects to help the needy in Kolkata and other places in India. I was very impressed with the success that this community is having. At the same time, I also felt a tinge of envy. But I am glad and thankful that it is there in Houston and we get a chance to go enjoy the festivities. Xarodiyo xubheissare`, Alpana B. Sarangapani. _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam
