CHILDHOOD REVISITED

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realise they were the Big things – Robert Brault

It’s said that if you carry your childhood with you, you never get old. The people of Juhu Area 161 had a great opportunity to revisit their younger days on Sunday Funday celebrated as Sunday street, when the young and not so young came out on the street to celebrate childhood. The event was the brainchild of Commissioner of Police Mr Sanjay Pande, colourfully executed by the residents of Juhu, spearheaded by our NFMC Committee Member from Western Suburbs (S) Veer Nari Dr Kanta Mukherjee. It was wonderful to meet Mr Kunal and his talented Son Siddharth Bharti, the child prodigy along with her. Siddharth has just returned from a Chess Tournament from Kolhapur.  It was an added delight to meet the cheerful Cdr PS Mehta on his morning walk at the Sunday street, even as he is recuperating from his CABG by-pass surgery that he successfully braved a month ago. 

The residents of Juhu Versova Link road 161 in association with the Mumbai police initiated Sunday Streets starting  10th April 2022 from 7 am to 10 am in the by lanes from Vrindavan Gurukul till Rajiv Gandhi college and the neighbouring area. They intend to continue the gala morning every Sunday. The underlying theme of this event is  #Savethemangroves161.

 Sunday Streets is an initiative implemented by Mumbai Police as per the concept given by the Commissioner of Police, Sanjay Pandey. This is aimed at enabling the people of Mumbai to live in a stress-free environment as well as to use the streets for recreational activities such as yoga, jogging, skating, cycling and cultural activities. This has been implemented successfully across various locations in Mumbai including Marine Drive, Bandra-Carter Road, Goregaon, among others.

 It is a sunday funday with a lot of activities planned for children as well as adults like yoga, zumba, badminton, football, hopscotch, Lagori, hula hoop etc. There are also some informative sessions conducted about the importance of conserving and protecting the environment, especially the mangroves.

 

Residents of Survey 161, Juhu Versova Link road love the mangroves and work relentlessly towards protecting and conserving the same. This is because they have understood the importance and usefulness of mangroves for basic survival of mankind, an initiative of Dr Kanta Mukherjee.

In an era of climate change and rising sea levels, area 161 has been safe from floods due to these mangroves protecting our coast line. It is truly saddening that the Versova mangroves have been under constant attack by "Land Sharks". In 2001 there was a massive destruction of mangroves after which the activists moved the high court and after a long battle,  in 2009, Area 161 was declared as forest land, and the mangroves were restored. Now once again our mangroves are under threat but the activists are alert and in constant touch with the authorities. LONG LIVE AREA 161 MANGROVES.  Dr Kanta Mukherjee was nominated by NFMC for her efforts for the Award of Nari Shakti Puraskar by PM this year and was felicitated by President NFMC in the recently conducted Veer Naris get-together in IMSC, Colaba.

 

Also one of the activities planned is a photography contest where the participants asked to click pictures and shoot videos of the event, mangroves, birds, nature etc and share on our instagram page @jvsr161. The pictures with the highest likes will be chosen for the United Citizen of Versova calendar.

 The overall idea is to encourage people to get out of their homes to relax and engage in fun, sports and wellness activities, spend some quality time with their loved ones as well as bond with the community at large.

Kudos to the Juhu residents under the dynamic Leadership of their noble Lady Dr Kanta Mukherjee. Having rejoiced the event and revisiting our childhood Dr Kanta took us to her Anchorage home for a refreshing delectable breakfast of Aaloo Parantha and Dahi Wada. Her beautiful daughter Sonali and Kunal Bharti had additionally ordered Samosas, Kachori & Jalebi from Brijvasi. It was wonderful to interact with Siddharth on his recent tournament and discuss Chess tactics.

When we thanked the Mukherjee's and bid them good bye, there was a visible glint in every eye.  As I wheeled out of Anchorage we marveled  at the wonderful forenoon that all of us relished after a long time.      

Sham No Varuna

Jai Hind 

DR KANTA MUKHERJEE

VIDEOS 

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YOU TUBE LINK 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLhn_vKmIaE&t=15s

(Courtesy Cdr PS Mehta 👆)

 

BANGLADESH  CONSULATE  INVITES  VETERANS

FOR  POILA  BAISHAKH

Baisakhi, marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh and is traditionally celebrated annually on 13 April and sometimes 14 April as a celebration of spring harvest primarily in Northern India. Further, other Indian cultures and diaspora celebrate this festival too. Bengalis from India and Bangladesh celebrate it with great pomp and show as “Poila Baishakh”

PRELUDE

      A week prior to Baishakhi, the Dep High Commissioner of Bangladesh H.E. Mr Chiranjib Sarker called up Cdr Vijay Vadhera, President NFMC, inviting a few Veterans to partake in their celebrations at Roof Top of 8 Jolly Maker, Cuffe Parade on the evening of 14 Apr 2022. A small karaoke revelry from us veterans was an added flavour to the Bengali cultural gala. 

 

At this point of time, it would be prudent for us to get acquainted with the impressive profile the DHC, Mr Chiranjib Sarker is blessed with.

 

Name : Chiranjib Sarker

Father’s Name : Late Sanker Lal Sarker

Mother’s Name : Mrs. Minoti Rani Ghosh

Spouse’s Name : Mrs. Anjana Roy

Date of Birth : 01-01-1970

Place of Birth : Baisari, Barisal.

Permanent Address : Village & Post- Baisari, District- Barisal, Country- Bangladesh.

Educational Qualification : Passed from Dhaka University with Physics major.

Hobby : Reading, Writing & Travelling Children : Fiji Sarker (Daughter) and Atri Sarker (Son)

Career Profile:

Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dhaka, June 2001

Third & Second Secretary, Bangladesh Embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan From January 1999

First Secretary, Bangladesh Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam From 2001 – 2004

Director (Consular), Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Counsellor, Bangladesh Embassy in Madrid Spain

Counsellor & Minister, Bangladesh High Commission Nairobi, Kenya

Worked at MOFA, Dhaka as Director General (Consular & Welfare)

Former Deputy High Commissioner and Minister at Bangladesh High Commission in Ottawa From 2019

Presently serving as Deputy High Commissioner at Bangladesh Deputy High Commission Mumbai, India From 21 January 2022

 

ROOF TOP BAISHAKHI CELEBRATIONS

Meena and I left our Borivali home well in time to reach our Cuffe Parade destination, negotiating the customary heavy afternoon traffic at the WEH. The consulate staff promptly assisted us in parking our Car. We were warmly greeted at the Porch by the beautiful Ms Pooja Shinde, the Consulate customer relations executive. The DHC Shri Chiranjib Sarker welcomed us at the ground floor lobby. After the exchange of Poila Baishak greetings we were directed to the Roof Top. The top enclosure was well decored with round tables and VIP seating for about 30, facing a small make-shift stage. Soon the Roof Top was abuzz with Veterans with spouses and a few members from other consulates. Shri Chiranjib Sarker took to stage to welcome all present to the New Year function and handed over to Mistress of Ceremony, Elegant Miss Maitri Khedekar for the conduct of the cultural extravaganza by dancers of Nrityanjali troop under Dr Tushar Guha, Mrs Radha Guha and their talented daughter Dr Anonna Guha. Their granddaughter, 9yrs young Adriti Dutta is blessed with a very melodious voice and she crooned 2 lovely Bengali songs. Mrs Maitri’s introductions to the dance items added a cherry to the wonderful performances. The dancers were a class apart in elegance and transported the spectators to the farms and fields, relevant to the harvesting festival, Baishakhi (Photos and videos below).

Cultural Dance items in order of Performances

1.       Welcome the New Year- Esho He Boishakh

2.       Ustav - Dhitam Dhitam Bole

3.       Baul Nritya

4.       Brotochari Nritya

5.       Meghero Damaru

6.       Baje Go Bina

7.       Songs by child artiste

8.       Rejoice with Boishak-– Ailo, Ailo Re

Artistes of Dr Tushar Guha's Nrityanjali:  Dr. Tushar Guha, Dr Anonna Guha, Balkrishana Sawant, Parmeshavran, Dinesh Singh, Madhavan,  Manjula Parashram, Vinaya Keni, Neha Valmiki, Sanah Parab, Aditri Dutta.   Anchor : Maitri Khedekar      Back stage management stage :Mrs Radha Guha ,  Sreekala Velambat, Aditya Parui, Baban

 

The cultural program was followed by a few old Karaoke numbers by Cdr Vijay Vadhera, Cdr Ritesh Menon, Cdr Anoop Verma, Cdr Raj Dutta, Mrs Mukti Ghosh and Mrs Meenakshi Verma.

Karaoke songs in order of Performances

1) Solo  by Commander Vijay Vadhera= Pukarta Chala hoon main

2) Duet by Cdr Ritesh Menon & Mrs Mukti Ghosh = Yeh Raatain Yeh Mausam Nadi Ka Kinara

3) Solo by Mrs Mukti Ghosh = Lolita Oke Aat Chole Jete Bolna (Bengali Song)

4) Duet by Cdr Vijay Vadhera & Mrs Meenakshi Verma = Yaad kiya Dil ne kahan ho tum

5) Solo by Cdr Raj Dutta = Bequerar Karke hame yu na jaiye

6) Solo by Cdr Anoop Verma, “Bhanware ki Gunjan”

7) Solo by Cdr Ritesh Menon, “Pal pal Dil ke pas”

 

   Cdr Vijay Vadhera in his Vote of Thanks acknowledged the incredible performances  by the dancers to make the Poila Baishakh event even more colourful. He expressed gratefulness to H.E. DHC for making the Veterans a part of their celebrations.

 The cultural gala was followed by delectable dinner at the lobby below. Even as the visitors interacted with each other in merriment,  Meena clicked and captured the glorious moments to edit those for a glance back in footprints of time. We gleefully thanked the DHC for the incredible and amazing evening relished in the Bangladesh consulate premises prior our departure.

Sam No Varunah

Jai Hind             

 

VIDEOS

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WONDERFUL EVE

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdr7bsZOfeM

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