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On Saturday Feb 16, Drishtipat hosted the "chokh
melo, cheye dekho lajja amar" ("open your eyes, see my
shame") benefit in Oak Park, Illinois, just outside of
Chicago. The show was attended by a little over a
hundred people from both the ethnic Bangladeshis and the
larger Chicago communities. We grossed $5561 for the
night, and after expenses have added $4824 to the Cheye
Dekho campaign.
The message was
clear: we cannot be silent in our shame. I cannot think
of a stronger argument for a tolerant Bangladesh than
the richness of it's culture, one that has been weaved
with strands from many different religions and customs.
Chokh Melo,
Cheye Dekho Lajja Amar:
The setting was a
125 year old church in the Frank Lloyd Wright district
of Chicago. The stage was beautifully decorated by Naila
Ahmed and Susan Teggatz with candles, flowers, sarees as
a backdrop, and a hand painted mural courtesy of a
Chicago performing arts group, Udashi Bangali. We also
had a "reading wall" in the dining room with articles by
Hassan Ferdous, "Harrowing Tales...", Prof Roy's Bhola
report and Drishtipat's introduction.
Apu Islam and Tania
Enayetullah emceed in Bangla and English, weaving a
delicate story with their introductions.
Ria Mahtab started the proceedings with a dance to "aji
bangladesher hridoi hote", followed by Sharmistha
Dev's dance to Nazrul's "Durgamo Giree". At
the end of both dances, with the dancer frozen in the
spotlight, Kumar Islam appeared on stage to offer emotional
recitations of Nirmalendu Guun's "Prothom Atithi"
and then "Bangladesh Shopno Dekhe" by Shamsur
Rahman.
The songs program started with a chorus Rabindra sangeet,
"aguner porosh moni". Lighted candles appeared
one by one and were passed around by the audience. On
stage, we had Sarwar Rashid (Joy), Lubna Anwar and Naila
Ahmed. An emotional connection was made. Lubna stayed
to perform a couple of wonderful solo "polli gitte".
The program also included a couple of dances from Bharatnatyam
and Kathak schools, performed exquisitely by Cristy
Rahman and Sharmistha Dev respectively. In between,
local Chicago favorite Kushol Bose played a number of
gono songeets, accompanied by Jeet Majumdar on tabla
and Arka Choudhuri on keyboard. Their songs included
"manush manusher jonne", "bistinno dupare"
as well as "kono ak gaer bodhur kotha shonai tomai",
dedicated to Annada Prashad. The melodies of the evening
took one final turn as Sarwar Rashid Joy sang bangla
folk songs accompanied by his acoustic guitar and Mahbub
Morshed Anwar on tabla. From gramerri nowjoaan, hindu
musulman" to "tak dhum, tak dhum baje bangladesher
dhol", Joy bhai's heartful renditions left us on
a high.
The cultural program showcased what is at stake if we
lose this battle in a way that no powerpoint slide ever
could. The program was a rousing success overall.
Thanks to the Sponsors.
Raffle Sponsors:
Hyatt International
Dentistry for Children, Dr. Kevin Boyd
Indian Harvest Resturant
Hobby Town
Barbara's Bookstore
Food Sponsors:
Indian Harvest Resturant
Maple Tree Resturant & John Mihalos
Mancini's Italian Resturant
The Dog Stop & Anastasia O'Brien
Sweets for the Sweet, Margaret Govea
Puree's Pizza
Ticket Sponsors:
Webbsofte Technologies
Charo's Hair Design
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