Sunday, August 14, 2011

Independence day, remembering India, Kolkata.

Yesterday night Dada, Bou-di & myself went to see the working places of  Yash and Runi i.e Harvard  Medical School, New Research Building & Dana- Farber Cancer Institute respectively, located in Longwood area.
Previously, we saw these buildings from outside; but, now we got the opportunity of seeing the same from within also. Our car was parked in the basement parking area & we were then elevated to Yash's place of work in Harvard Medical  School, New  Research Bldg........ we saw Yash's  lab......his desk & his other areas of work.......he gave us a  plain  description of  his job........ full of complexities though, still we listened to him all the while  &  tried to grasp his motto of research  aided by the wonderful facilities the  Harvard university  had to offer, to a   Postdoc  researcher.
We met  a few other researchers also there who were cordial and  polite enough to greet us & we reciprocated.   I was simply baffled  by  guessing the vastness of  the research that  might be going here for  years together,  in the development of medical science & the researchers' contribution to humanity.
The bldg. inside  & outside were simply marvellous.......... the  high glass walls of the building which reflected the  blue of the sky in the daytime & looked wonderful in the night also----------- it was kind of  an engineering wonder--------- many snapshots were taken by  the trio of  Yash, Runi & Dada.
Next, we moved to Dana- Farber Cancer Instt. where Runi works, as a Postdoc researcher;  we saw  her lab, her areas  of work, the conference room & a few other parts of the Hospital.  I liked her spirit of  work, punctuality & devotion to work. Next we saw the old  Cancer Hospital bldg. I shd add here that Runi's lab is not far from  Yash's lab.
I was sorry to remember that hospitals in our country did not always mean health & hygiene, as it shd be ideally........while here, people get healing touches & care also  & are never low in spirit to come to the hospital for treatment and recovery.
We also saw Brigham & Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital & Beth Israel  Deconess  Medical  Center ............all these are known names to me by now.

Today is 14th  August & a  Sunday &  Indian Independence day  is, therefore being celebrated here today at Storrow drive,  in a Park by the side of the  Charles River.
All of us decided to go there and see some of the celebrations there in the afternoon  & accordingly we went there inspite of the fact that it was raining here from the morning.........almost.   The flag hoisting  ceremony  and the celebrations started from 9 A.M  & a lot of people.......Indians mostly.......... were there,  I learnt later that many volunteers were there from 9 A.M & helped organise the function braving the rain. Among the guests was Victor Banerjee ----- a well-known filmstar of Kolkata who was known in USA also,  bec. of  the David Lynn Film  'A passage to India' in which he starred. I also learnt that Bengali songs were sung in the 1st part of the celebrations which we missed.
We saw and listened to Kawwali performances, Bhangra dances with Punjabi songs plus Marathi songs etc.-----the rain almost stopped and gradually stopped totally. The crowd enjoyed thoroughly the performances and the youth present there danced to their favourite tunes a no. of times. The crowd was quite big when we joined there. A no. of  food-stalls was there and we had Pani Poories, known as Phuchkas in Kolkata. Runi and Yash met some of their friends there. Among them a few were even known to Dada & Boudi. I would mention here the names of   Prashant & Akashi who came to our house earlier. Also I would like to mention here the names of Shovan and his wife (name I don't know) who were friends of  Yash/Runi  in Madurai. Forest Rangers were in charge of the Park where the celebration was going and they were seen present all throughout in the Park-area.. Also, Police were present in order to maintain the traffic & contain things, if necessary. The whole function was organised by the  IAGB i.e the India  Association of Greater Boston. I came to know that it is the 50th yr. of  celebration by them and they were committed to organising a year-long process of celebrations and  arranging of  medical camps plus Yoga camps, as a mark of their 50th year. We received souvenirs which contained  Proclamation by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, urging citizens of the Commonwealth  to take cognizance of this event & participate fittingly in its observance. Freedom of  speech & freedom of  cultural activities .........that was how  I  felt in reading the said souvenir & witnessing the part of the celebrations plus being a part of the same.
We came home at about 9 P.M.  Dada, myself, Yash and Runi .........played cards for some time before dinner. Yash and Runi had already eaten Dosa, chat etc. in the stalls mentioned herein earlier & they did not eat anything more.




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