Pashchimi hosted Saraswati Puja 2010 at the Indian Community Center in Milpitas on January 20, 2010. Call us stupid, but we decided to have the Puja right on the Vasant Panchami day, the fifth day of Magh, and the first day of spring. The weather was anything but spring-like, as some of us may recall.

Despite the inclement weather, the eventwas converted into another Pashchimi pujo-cum-“are kemon achho”-cum-adda (“networking” sounds so LinkedIn-ish!) by the several hundred intrepid Pashchimi members and well-wishers, some having driven from as far away as Santa Cruz, braving the rain and the storm! We salute you, you have kept us going for these years.

The Puja started around 6:15 pm and continued till 7:30 pm. Followed by Pushpanjali. Debasis, our Pujari, was very accommodating and had several rounds of Pushpanjali for all of us to offer our prayers to the goddess of knowledge. Hate Khari saw a row of little girls and boys, eyes lit up with expectations (with their anxious parents, thinking of what line to take with Ma for their child’s future!) lined up. Debasis, true to his tradition, gave individual attention to each one. (If anyone from this group grows up to be the next Jhumpa Lahiri, we will know where it all began).

Dinner, consisting of Luchi, torkari and misti was served by Wah-ji-wah, who have stood by us during the first few years of Pashchimi’s struggle. Anil-da, the owner of WJW, is from Kolkata and speaks fluent Bengali. No wonder the food almost vanished into thin air before you could say “saraswati mahabhage…”!

The management of ICC, as usual, was most supportive and helped us with everything we needed. It has been a pleasure organizing events at the ICC, and we certainly encourage all of you to visit the ICC regularly.

Lastly, please watch this space, since Pashchimi is planning to initiate a host of charitable programs this year. Bolstered by a young and dedicated group of members, and some very creative ideas offered by some members, Pashchimi’s programs will cover the bay area as well as India. We have grown in membership each year. We will very soon publish our plans for 2010. Those of you who receive our emails, you will get a mail from us to update your profile, so that we can make it easier for you to register and pay in the future events. Please use the Login link to log into the site using the username and password we will send to you and update your profile. It will also come with some privileges not available to others. Those that want to register, please use the register link to do so right now. Those that want to be a part of the fun of being a Pashchim-ite, please call any one of us (contact us) and we will take care of the rest. Be ready for some back-breaking work and a sound sleep after that!

And please keep sending those comments, ideas and suggestions (feedback), these keep us going! Thank you.

Please read the write-up about our Durga Puja in Indian Express

Bose Aanko (sit and draw) competition :

We have received some excellent comments from some of you during Durga Puja and afterwards. We request others who have not done so yet, to also give us their opinions and suggestion. Please visit our feedback page.