Drishtipat Boston Pre-Launch Promotional Stall at the Amra Kojon Reunion
On July 30, 2005, a local group of music enthusiasts arranged a get together of the local Bangladeshi community at Cambridge, MA. The Drishtipat Boston team arranged to have a stall there, in an attempt to create awareness among the local Bangladeshi community about the upcoming launch of the Drishtipat local chapter in Boston.
The event was a reunion of “Amra Kojon” – literally, a few of us. They are a group of over 100 music lovers from both Bengals who had come together in a celebration of their motherland and language, beyond the borders of religion, country, politics and local organizations, presenting 1000 years of Bangla musical heritage to a crowd of 1200 strong in the Kresge Auditorium, MIT, Cambridge, MA.
At a time when Bangladesh and W. Bengal (India) rarely make international news unless it's a devastating human tragedy, Amra Kojon has received extensive coverage in local and Bangladeshi media -- from Voice of America and Boston Globe to the Cambridge Chronicle and India New England News. Further details can be found at www.amrakojon.org.
The spirit of Amra Kojon is to leave aside our personal differences of nationality, religion, ethnicity, or political alignments and to come together to celebrate their passion and love for Bangla music. Drishtipat shares their spirit of unity and amity, in cooperating with our friends to promote respect and compassion for our fellow human beings. It only felt appropriate for the two groups, varied though their primary focus is, to work together to help each other with exposure and other logistical details.
At the Drishtipat Stall, there were brochures and newsletters available to share with the guests. There was a colorful posterboard highlighting the recent Drishtipat projects – Women of ’71 and the Palashbari Campaign. In addition, a slideshow presentation had been carefully prepared to showcase Drishtipat, its central message and spirit, its past and current projects and the passion of its members to the audience present at the reunion event.
Drishtipat’s presence was quite well received at the event. There were quite a few guests interested in hearing about DP Boston events. Several guests expressed an interest in working closely with the organization. In all, it was quite an encouraging response. In particular, a 5 minute team presentation on stage, accompanied by the slideshow, seemed to stir quite an interest among the guests, reaching even those who had overlooked the stall when they had come into the hall.
