Chalantika  has been the only Bengali dictionary till date that has a universal presence in most of our homes (other than the bilingual English>>Bengali or Bengali>>English dictionaries published by Samsad that some of us used to have as well). Isn't it amazing that a dictionary first written ~80 years back continues to be the only dictionary of substance when it comes to the Bengali language? 

In CCI, it has always been a steadfast objective to expose our second generation to as much of our heritage, culture & language as possible. Our annual Cincinnati Durga Puja provides a perfect platform for bringing this to bear. And it's very heartening to see how our second generation picks up the language and the diction like fish to water each year, every year.

This year, other than Tagore's Juta Aabishkaar, the CCI kids are also performing Chalantika's author & the great humorist, Rajshekhar Basu's Tritiyo Dyut Sabha (or, the Third Dice Game). Come and check out this comical adaptation modeled on the 2nd century BCE Sanskrit playwright Bhasa's Sanskrit plays, on Saturday night.

The men have been busy in the kitchen over the past few days assisting with rinsing & peeling & cutting of the vegetables for the quintessential bong dish Shukto, that will be served on Sunday lunch. If you have not seen our lip-smacking, tongue-dripping, mouth-drooling menu, you can check it out here. 

It is through these numerous background activities happening over multiple weekends - aside from the Pujo itself - that the whole community gets engaged, gets enriched (well now we know who to reach out to for Shukto), gets entertained. 

So, if you are looking for similar volunteering opportunities, its not too late.. click here & let us know and be an active participant in your Pujo.

The grand finale of Saturday evening  .. an alluring performance by three of our beautiful dancers - Anwesha, Rukmini & Shreya.

If you have not registered yet, please do so at the earliest before rates go up this week.

Back in India, we used to bring an end to the Durga Puja festivities with the chant of aashchhe bochhor aabaar hobey, before going back to the mundane affairs of daily life. 

Here in US, with the concept of weekend puja we have the opportunity of chanting aashchhe soptahe aabaar hobey :-) 

For folks living in Cincinnati and the surrounding areas, the multiple pujas over the Debipaksha weekends provide an opportunity to further lengthen the Durga Puja experience and do some pandal hopping reminescent of the good old days in Kolkata - and the invariable comparison from protima to mandap sajja to home-cooked food to the natok-naach o gaan-er programs to the atitheyota - that comes with it and goes on for days, long after the celebrations are over!

So, indulge yourslef, do some pandal hopping and enjoy some good times with your friends and families. 

Maha Shashthi starts on Friday, October 3rd while Registration closes on October 2nd for the only, annual Durga Puja of Cincinnati. 

[Our 2015 dates, if you want to note down are October 16, 17 & 18 next year. And yes, the venue remains unchanged!]

If you want to sign up for any volunteering activities and participate more actively than being a passive by-stander this year, please visit the volunteering page here. 

This weekend is turning out to be an extremely hectic one as all the teams work towards putting their final act together for the big event next weekend !

The decoration team is putting their finishing touches to the artwork that will add  to our tasteful decorations conceptualized by Sukirti & Nilesh last year. When art meets science & engineering, the outcomes are truly impressive !

The Udbodhoni Gaan-er team got together to do one final rehearsal of their taal-loy-matraa  and the final presentation promises to be mesmerizing for the audience.

This time we have also invested in top-of-the-line audio equipment and our sound-engineer by passion - Kaushik, did one final run through of all the setups. With wireless mics and lapels, sound boxes and mixers, amplifiers and delay speakers, we are looking forward to some great auditory experiences... may even end up in extending our services to other non-profit organizations in the area once Kaushik trains up a few more sound engineers :-)

The Juta Aabishkaar team of CCI kids did their final dress rehearsal and as usual there was a lot of kolahol & kolorob that was aptly quietened by the lip-smacking dishes quickly laid out by the wonderful hostesses. 

All the food team volunteers also got busy preparing wonderful home-made food that will be served during the event....one of the many advantages of organizing and celebrating a parar pujo. 

And thus begins the final countdown to your pujo, our pujo, amader parar pujo !

Still 4 more days to go before Shashthi Pujo begins at Kolkata, in Bengal, in India. 7 more days for us here in Cincinnati. If you have not registered yet, please do so as soon as possible before the registration deadline closes on October 2nd.

Meanwhile, here is a rib tickling take on Mahishasur Pala, with a modern twist from ABP ... just enjoy without being too judgmental ! This is Episode 1. We will continue to get you the subsequent Episodes as they get published by ABP in the run up to the Pujo next weekend. 

This year at the Cincinnati Durga Puja - we will have live broadcasting of the 3-day event covering all the key rituals & programs !!

More details to come ... but in the meanwhile, please let your parents, relatives & friends know about this. Whether they are near or far, in-town or out-of-town, they can see this annual event that you will be participating in, they can see you doing the anjali, they can see you performing on stage and they can see you having the bhog-prasad. If you are new to the community, they might even be able to catch you while the camera-men goes around interviewing all the new-comers to Cincinnati's very own annual Durgotsav ! 

Our members have had a history of presenting various cultural programs at the different events in the region - be it 
Naatok presentations at Banga Sammelan Atlantic City, Regional Bengali Conference Nashville or Bengali Association of Greater Chicago, Nritya-natyo at the Regional Bengali Conference, Nashville or Bangla Gaan at the Banga Mela Cincinnati, our members have enjoyed in entertaining their audiences everywhere. 

Last year's Banga Mela was no exception and those who had attended the event might have heard the Gaaner Onusthan, presented by one of our own, professional play-back singers - Suchetana. Check out the Banga Mela 2013 clip below.

Attendees to the annual Cincinnati Durga Puja will be treated to her mellifluous and soul-stirring voice on Sunday, October 5th at 2:30 pm. Suchetana just returned from India after completing a series of assignments and albums, some of which will be on display for purchase at the event.

More surprise in store: We have heard XYZ's wonderful hindi renditions in the past ..  XYZ will be performing for the first time on CCI's stage on Sunday as well - so, look forward to a musical afternoon on Sunday, October 5th!

9 more days to go ... 9 more days before the biggest event of the year unfolds ... 9 more days before the registration rates go up. Please register right away, if you have not done so yet @ www.cdu2014.org.

(here's a re-post from 8/28 for your listening pleasure!)

Mahalaya has always been a pre-cursor to the puja mood during our childhood. 

Listening to the deep voice of Birendra Krishna Bhadra on All India Radio in a half-awake state at 4 am in the morning, the slight nip in the air and the still dark outside, peering out from under the lep (comforter) and stretching our ears to listen to Mahishashur Mardini, the realization of puja vacations at schools and colleges just around the corner - all these snippets of imagery bring back a flood of nostalgic memories. 

This year Mahalaya is on 23rd September. Many of us will be listening and re-creating the Mahalaya effect on the 21st or 27th weekends at our homes.

Here is the complete Mahishashur Mardini by Birendra Krishna Bhadra embedded from Youtube. This is for those kids growing up here and missing such simple pleasures of life. This is for those students who just started their Fall semester and still coping with that knot in their throat for having to miss Durga Puja back at home. This is for those of us who would be re-creating the Mahalaya effect a month down the line. Enjoy!

10 more days to go ... 10 more days before the biggest event of the year unfolds ... 10 more days before the registration rates go up. Please register right away, if you have not done so yet @ www.cdu2014.org.

Continuing the nostalgia series .. here's a photo of our first ever Durga Puja in Cincinnati in 2008. From then to now has been an eventful journey, made possible by each and every one of you, each year, every year! Thank you.