BY NEHA SARIN
MONROVia,CA - The Bengali Association of Southern California (BASC) celebrated Durga Puja from Oct 23 to Oct 25 at the Monrovia High School here which was attended by more than 1,000 people. The annual three-day event attracted the Bengali community from all over Southern California and brought together people...
MONROVia,CA - The Bengali Association of Southern California (BASC) celebrated Durga Puja from Oct 23 to Oct 25 at the Monrovia High School here which was attended by more than 1,000 people. The annual three-day event attracted the Bengali community from all over Southern California and brought together people...
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from every walk of life along with having a great social significance in passing on Bengali traditions and customs to the next generation. The community members, dressed up in their traditional sarees and kurtas, reminisced about by-gone days and reconnected with friends and family. Durga Puja is the largest religious festival in Bengal in India and is celebrated for four days. The venue this year was decorated with the theme of the city of Kolkata and volunteers came up with displays of famous Kolkata landmarks, spending countless hours decorating the entire campus. The puja was held in the high school gymnasium Delicious traditional Bengali food was served and the evenings were filled with exciting cultural entertainment programs where both community members as well as artistes from India took the stage.
The highlight of the cultural programs was a concert by Bollywood singer Sadhana Sargam, which was attended by hundreds. Ram Tasildar of So-Cal warmed up the audiences by singing famous Bollywood hits before Sadhna Sargam took the stage. She instantly connected with the audience as spoke in Bengali and lightened the mood. Sargam started by invoking blessings from goddess Durga and went on to sing the evergreen ‘Pehla Nasha’ from ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’.Famous hits like ‘Chupse e’, ‘Neele neele ambar par’ amongst otehrsoulful melodies filled the auditorium. She sang some songs in Bangla as well which were very well received. The three-day long festival ended on Oct 25 with Vijaya Dashami as married women put sindur on each other’s forehead and danced to the rhythmic beats of the traditional “dhaak” – which is an integral part of the Durga Puja celebration.
The highlight of the cultural programs was a concert by Bollywood singer Sadhana Sargam, which was attended by hundreds. Ram Tasildar of So-Cal warmed up the audiences by singing famous Bollywood hits before Sadhna Sargam took the stage. She instantly connected with the audience as spoke in Bengali and lightened the mood. Sargam started by invoking blessings from goddess Durga and went on to sing the evergreen ‘Pehla Nasha’ from ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’.Famous hits like ‘Chupse e’, ‘Neele neele ambar par’ amongst otehrsoulful melodies filled the auditorium. She sang some songs in Bangla as well which were very well received. The three-day long festival ended on Oct 25 with Vijaya Dashami as married women put sindur on each other’s forehead and danced to the rhythmic beats of the traditional “dhaak” – which is an integral part of the Durga Puja celebration.
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