CULTURAL SECRETARY’S NOTE
Dear Friends,
It’s been a few weeks that we celebrated Durga Puja 2013 while I write this
note from the Cultural Desk but every moment of those five days is still fresh in my memory.
The celebration and the fun we had seems to be increasing multifold with each year. Behind the
magnificent pandal, beautiful idol, delicious bhog, numerous stalls and superb lighting goes an
enormous effort for months by our executive committee members, advisory board, patrons, and
volunteers. The Times of India award for the Best Durga Puja (Recent entrant category) is a
testimony of the organized hard work by the team. Like previous years, we have managed to
engage the audience with a variety of events for all the five days starting with Ananda Mela. We
had spectacular performances from our in-house talents who presented melodious music, mind
blowing dances, and a Bengali Drama which can be compared with any other professional
performances from reputed Theatre production houses.
We also had classical music presentation by Pandit Anil Sarkar and his group who touched all
our hearts with their classical music which is hard to enjoy easily in today’s entertainment circle.
I thank all the performers for spending months in preparation for the events despite their busy
schedules. I salute the children for their energy levels and dedication in keeping the audience
dance and sing with them during their performances. Apart from the in-house talents, we had a
repeat performance of “Renesa” on popular demand for their performance last year. They
touched the right chords with the audience and made them dance to their songs for the entire
evening.
The surprise event this year was the Chau Dance by BanglaNatak.com. We booked them for
Saptami not for the entertainment quotient but to promote a dying form of art from West
Bengal. However their performance surpassed all our expectations. It will remain as one of the
most memorable show that I witnessed in my lifetime and I am sure there would be few others
who would agree with me. Hats off to the performers from a tiny village of West Bengal on a
beautiful evening.
Lastly I would like to mention about the competitive events that were held for the children. We
had a whopping 95 unique participants competing in different events over the 4 days of Durga
Puja. The children kept us engaged during the day-time with their competitive spirits till the
Bhog was served. For us, each participant is a winner and we had certificates and prizes for
everyone. On the last day of the puja, it is a fulfilling achievement to see the smile on each
child’s face when they come on the stage to collect their prizes on Dashami morning. A BIG
thanks to all volunteers and members of the Cultural team for a job well done.
Thanks and Regards
Subhro Mukherjee
The Cyberabad Bangali Association Sharad Sambhaar 2013 20
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