The Salt Lake City BA Block Residents' Association marked the International Mother Language Day in a unique way this year. On February 21, it came out with its own bilingual digital magazine.
“We chose the day to unveil our magazine Swajon because it’s a day when the whole world celebrates the motherr tongue,” said Sisir Ganguly, a veteran resident who is heading the editorial board of the digital magazine. “Not only is Swajon a celebration of the cerebral and the creative abilities of BA Block residents, it is also a platform designed to bring all of us together, " said the 80-year-old former chief engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD).
“The digital has limitless reach. We are trying to reach out to the block’s non-residents who are settled in cities across the country and beyond,” said Prasenjit Saha, the secretary of BA Block.
“I sincerely hope that Swajon will soon emerge as a wonderful bridge between probasi (residents) and aprobasi (non-residents),” said Gautam Sengupta, one of the advisers of the digital magazine.
The former director general of the Archaeological Survey of India and retired professor of Visva-Bharati suggested that a database be prepared of the residents, especially the young, spread across the globe.
Ganguly listed certain core objectives of the magazine. “Our focus is on the young members. Swajon is a literary forum where our young members can express themselves,” Ganguly explained.
The inaugural issue of the magazine is a bouquet of poems, travelogues, paintings by children, a tribute to Michael Madhusudan Dutt on his 200th birth anniversary.
There is also an interview of Rajatava Dutta where the versatile actor residing in BA Block speaks at length and also explains why the stage remains closest to his heart.
The first issue also contains a colourful montage of block events, including Durga puja, annual picnic, annual sports, senior citizens’ get-together, etc.
The initiative has been welcomed by non-residents of the block who have settled elsewhere.
“It is a great way for all of us living outside BA Block to touch base with the place where we actually belong, " said Anirban Mondal, an IT engineer based out of Pune.
Nirmalya Ganguly, who works as managing partner at a bank in London, feels it will certainly work both ways. “While for those living outside the block, the magazine will serve as a means to figure out what is happening back home in our block, the residents will get a fair idea of what the sons and daughters of the soil are doing in life away from the homeland,” he said.
Write to saltlake@abp.in
