SPrayas, the trend setter and yes they hit it again

I remember long back I posted one article here about my visit to Disha. Today I got an email from one of my good friend regarding her visit to Disha and some other places on Xmas day along with the same team named SPrayas. I am just copying her email here without any change. One thing I must say, she is damn good in writing.

“Jingle bell Jingle bell, Jingle all the way,
Santa Claus is coming around
riding on his sleigh…….”

In the hustle bustle of life, when we hardly have time to be with ourselves, to be with our family or to be with our near ones, there are some who make sure to spend quality time to bring a smile on the face of children who because of some circumstances do not have a family along.

In the race of life when we are working day-in and day-out to go high in our career, there are some to whom equally important is filling colors in the canvas of life of children who can not afford to go to a school sometimes due to unavailability of a good school nearby; sometimes due to financial constraints.

Abhishek, Kasturi, Ruchi, Seema, Sudha, Kartik, Geeta, Mihir, Ravi, Tanmay, Venkat, and Ayora Berry;
- They are those some people who are making difference in the lives of children.
- They are those some people who love to fill the life of children with the ink of knowledge;
- they are those some people who may not have time for themselves but always make sure to have some time to be with these children.

These some people are no individuals but they all belong to one family:

S’PRAYAS: Enriching life at DEHU, KAMSHET and DISHA!!!!

For children at Dehu, Kamshet and Disha, the wait for Santa this Christmas was not a long one; Not one, not 2, not 3 but 12 Santa Claus came to greet them, be with them and bring smile to them.

The moment the SPrayas team reached each of these 3 places, it was no less than a family reunion. The handshake, the hug, the smile spoke everything. It was the unconditional love from both ends that filled the air on this holy day….

I can recall a question that was asked by a kid at Dehu after hearing the story of Santa Claus and Christmas, “Is there Santa Claus in real????” Answer given was “Santa Claus kalpanik hain…”

I disagree; coz you all are the Santa Claus in disguise. You are giving each of the children the most precious gift: “your time” dipped in love so pure and so true.

If anyone believes “Out of Sight; Out of Mind;”, then one must listen to the questions asked by kids at Kamshet:

“Praveen Sir nahi aaye?????
Shivani mam kahaan hain??? Woh kyon nahi aaye????.....”

(Praveen and Shivani are members of SPrayas team who couldn’t turn up in person due to some unavoidable circumstances for the Christmas Celebration.)

Hidden behind these questions was how you all at SPRAYAS have touched the heart of these children and with all you do for them, you are always there in the core of their heart. These questions reflect the special bond that these children share with one and all at SPrayas.

This Christmas I got the chance to be with this wonderful S’PRAYAS family for complete day and I could not stop myself from pouring my thoughts. I met the kids for the first time but the warmth I received from them, I will cherish for lifetime.

We all live for ourselves but hats off to S’PRAYAS who lives for many. I wish you all the very best for the wonderful work you all are doing.
Looking forward to be a part of the wonderful work you all are doing.

My first visit to USA

USA….United States of America. Yes I am here. I never had a dream to come out of India. Actually I never thought that long. Being an average student in school and college I never think of a day like this. However the most important thing is I am here.
The journey started from Pune itself. From Pune I went to Mumbai Airport and then I took the Continental Express flight CO49. Once I entered into Mumbai International Airport, I was in a mixed feeling. A bit tensed, a bit scared, a bit happy, a bit sorrow, a bit excited too. Before taking the boarding pass, one guy from CO airlines asked me some general questions like who packed my bags, am I aware of all the things packed in the bag or not etc. After that my luggage got scanned and I was told that my bag is overweighed. I had to come out of the queue and had to shuffle certain things from one bag to another. But that was not sufficient. I had to do it again. Finally my luggage got checked in and I headed towards the emigration area. Emigration…. Huh!! Some more stupid questionnaires. They put stamp on my passport. Once done I went for security check in. Then once I reach the gate from where I boarded the flight, had one more round of security checking. This time they even asked me to put my shoes also in the scanner. Anyways after all these things finally I boarded the flight to Newark. It took off after almost an hour delay due to the maintenance work going on in the Mumbai Airport. Once I get into the flight, I found it’s so different than domestic flights. Here they have three columns of seats of three instead of two. One monitor is also attached at the back of every seat. Once I explored that, I found they have stored movies of different genitures, games, popular tv shows. And if you don’t like either of them then you can see the flight map. Flight map is nothing but a set of information about the flight. The altitude it is flying. Outside temperature, the miles travelled, the miles to travel, time to reach the destination, time in the destination and time in the original departing city, ground speed etc. the most important thing it has shown is the graphical rather satellite view of the entire view of the path the flight is following.
In the flight they served food three times with drinks as well. The food was entirely fitting US food habit, but I managed. Because either I don’t like any rich food.
Before the landing they provided two forms. One for customs and one for emigration. Once the flight landed I headed towards the emigration. They asked me some questions about my profile here, took finger print, took retina image and finally stamped my passport that I am arrived here.
After that I collected my luggage and for that I had to borrow a trolley for $5. This was not checking those out but just the verification of my luggage. After identification I went to customs and don’t know why they asked me to step away and go through one more round of checking of luggage. This time manual checking. After all the processes I re submitted luggage I had to go to Terminal A from Terminal C. Terminal A is domestic one. I had to take the flight to Minneapolis. To go to terminal A I had to take the Air train. Now what is this air train?? This is nothing but a small train made of glass and runs between the terminals. Once the train got out of the terminal I had my first view of USA. It was raining, just a drizzle. Most interestingly it doesn’t appear to be as a foreign land. I don’t know why the looks of the airport and surroundings were very similar to Mumbai and Kolkata.
After reaching terminal A I headed to Gate 20A security check in. the format of the checking is same. One interesting thing happened there is with my t shirt. I didn’t ever notice what exactly was written in it but the security person asked me the same and gave me a strange look. I was bit scared by that time. I thought might be something is written wrong about their country or culture. Then he asked me if I am a musician or not. I said yes I play table and described what the Tabla is. He just smiled.
After all these things it was a long 3 hours of waiting for next flight CO 2370. This flight is a small one. 30 seater only. I never boarded small flight like this. Anyway it took another two and half hour to reach Minneapolis airport. I came downstairs and collected my luggage and started looking for Ashok, my onsite PM who said that he will be coming to receive me from airport. I gave him a call and he said he will be there in next 15 min. I waited for him outside the airport and he took me to the apartment where I am going to stay for next 15-20 days.
Now how is St. Paul city. Well it’s a small town here and not exactly what we think about USA which is shown in movies. It’s calm and quiet. On a first glance I was disappointed but overall it’s a good experience. Let’s see what all are waiting for me.

Bhaifnota

Bhai er kopal e dilam fnota
Jom duaare porlo knata
Jomuna dai Jom ke fnota
Aami dilam aamar bhai ke fnota

4 lines of blessings come directly from heart of all the lucky sisters for their brothers….Every sister prays to god for her brother’s healthy life. Well, a sister’s good wishes are always there with every brother in the world and a wish never needs a special day but still some days are there completely different from others. Bhaifnota is a day of brothers and sisters. On this very day brothers visit their sister’s place where sisters welcome them with their favourite dishes, sweets and many other things. Sister put Chandan Tilak on to brother’s forehead as a mark of her wishes. The whole ceremony signifies the duty of a brother to protect his sister as well as a sister’s blessings for her brother. This occasion is known as Bhaifnota in Bengal, however in other parts of India it is named in different manner as well. Bhai Dooj, Bhai Bij, Bhau Beej are just only some other names of the same.


This whole occasion has its own Mythological background. It is said that when Lord Krishna visted her sister Shubhadra’s place after slaying Narashur, Shubhadra welcomes Krishna with a Tilak and with some sweets and flowers. Since then the trend is going on.
From my childhood I saw a huge gathering in my house on the occasion of Bhaifnota. Usually we used to celebrate it together. It happened to be started with my Grandmother and her brother and used to end with my sister’s son and his sister. That means we celebrate this with four complete generations. My dad’s cousin brothers and sisters, my cousin brothers and sisters, my mom’s brother used to join us. So for us it happened to be the most memorable day of life.



But in today’s world life is so fast and dynamic you hardly get time for your own. From the day me and my brothers and sisters started their proffessional life, we were not able to gather in that particular day to celebrate. But this year the story was different. Me and my sister planned that at any cost we are gonna celebrate this with everybody there and we did it. After 4-5 years we all gathered on 19th of October 2009 for Bhaifnota and celebrated the occasion together. I was so happy to spend that day with all. So am ending this with a resolution that next year again we will rock the floor on the occasion of Bhaifnota.

Durga Puja Kolkata 2009