On behalf of the Sanatan Bengali Society Executive Committee, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome and wish all of you a fun, memorable, and meaningful Durga Puja.
I have had the honor of serving this vibrant community as an executive member since 2008 and as the President since January 2023. I am fortunate to have such a great team of members and volunteers who have come together to create this event for us to celebrate Durga Puja. I am so grateful to spend another Durga Puja with all of you.
As Probasi Bangali, this is a great occasion for us to come together as a community in a festive spirit and spread our rich culture and tradition. Amidst a world of increasing fragmentation and unrest, our community serves as a peaceful oasis for all of us. This community has existed for a long time and continues to grow every year. With our increasing growth and diversity, it’s our responsibility to ensure that the community remains united and continues to keep the community’s interest and wellbeing as our number one priority. Every member of this community, no matter the length of time that you may have been with us, is encouraged to participate in this annual event of Durga Puja and all the events that follow. We are all one big family.
In honor of our community coming together, I would like to share some of the projects that we have been working on this year. We are very excited about our collaboration with various local organizations to diversify our community’s cultural, social, and spiritual enrichment. We have been working closely with the Hindu Society of Southern California while celebrating Saraswati Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Dol yatra, Akhay Tritiya, Janma astami, to integrate socio-religious bond with the wider community. In addition, for more than a decade, SBS has also been involved in student financial support. This year, SBS supported all expenses (including visa fees, medical fees, and traveling expenses) to a student named Pramshis Kar (Ayon). Pramashis is a RUET graduate that is starting a master’s Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Tennessee Tech University. We are continuously looking for other students to support who wish to pursue higher education but are unable to do so due to financial barriers.
We could not have achieved any of these incredible achievements without the active participation of our members and volunteers. I am excited to report that this year, a lot of our new members joined us as part of the volunteer team for Durga Puja. Please welcome them as they join us in our celebration. We would like to invite and encourage more of our members to participate in all capacities including leadership in various events.
Thank you for listening to some of the ventures that we are currently pursuing. For more up-to- date information on the community and our upcoming events, please visit our website www.sanatanbengalisociety.org. If you have any feedback for improvement or other suggestions, we would love for you to share it with us through our email,support@sanatan bengalisociety.org. Finally, I want to again give a big thank you to the leadership team, volunteers, and all of you, for your continued support and dedication in helping this community continue to thrive.
I hope you enjoy this Durga Puja and we look forward to seeing all of you at our next event for Lakshmi Puja on October 29th, 2023 at Sindhu Center, 14117 Clarkdale Ave, Norwalk, CA 90650