Aadvika_2019

6 pm   F   r id   a y ,  O    c  t  o   b e r   4 t h   2 0  1  9   
7 pm 
7:30 pm   General Puja & Bodhan
8:30 pm  Arati
 Dinner

Aadvika 2019Cultural Programm ( Porsia Sen - Sa re ga ma pa artist)

 S a  t  u  rday, Oct 5th  2019

10 am   Saptami P
12 pm   Arati/Pushpanjali
12:30 pm   Lunch
4 pm  Mahaastami Puja   
5 pm   Kumari Puja
6 pm   Sandhi Puja & Aarti
 7:30 pm  Cultural Programm & Fashion Show 
9:30 pm   Dinner        

Sunday, October 6th  2019



PRESIDENT’S WELCOME NOTE

Sharadiyar Priti O Shubhechha to all Members of San Antonio Bengali Cultural Community (SABCC). The
same for our sponsors, donors, attendees, and volunteers. SABCC is celebrating Durga Puja 2019 from
October 4th to 6th for the third year in San Antonio, Texas.
Durga Puja is the most auspicious and biggest occasion for Bengali Hindus. As Bengali Hindus, we hold
Durga Puja in the highest regard. The name ‘Durga Puja’ itself means worshipping Goddess Durga.
According to Hindu mythology, Goddess Durga is the great Goddess of the Hindus, the consort of Shiva,
and she is worshiped in various forms corresponding to her two aspects: benevolence and fierceness.
She is Uma, “light”; Gouri, “brilliant”; Parvati, “the mountaineer”; and Jagatmata, “the mother-of-the-world”
in her milder guise. The terrible emanations are Durga “the inaccessible”; Kali, “the black”: Chandi, “the
fierce”; and Bhairavi, “the terrible”. Mother Durga is considered as a manifestation of ‘Shakti’, which
means ‘Power’. She is the Mother of the universe; Mother Nature. As mother of this Universe, she
displays infinite power and is worshipped as a symbol of female dynamism. Ma Durga exists eternally;
she always abides in her own kind nature and stays in the hearts and minds of her blissful devotees. In
the form of Shakti, she creates, nurtures, and destroys physical forms. As Kundalini, she enlightens the
lotuses of seven centers of awareness in the human body. Goddess Durga killed the demon Mahisasura,
thereby protecting mankind. When evil forces create imbalance; Gods unite together and become one
divine force known as Durga ‘Shakti’. She is idolized for her prosperity, auspiciousness, wisdom,
kindness, and powers. Durga Puja also reminds us of the great relationship between child and mother.
Like Goddess Durga protected mankind by killing the Demon Mahishasur, every mother protects her child
under any circumstances.
Through SABCC, we are able to unite to celebrate and idolize Ma Durga today. The formation of SABCC
inspired our community to come together with unbounded enthusiasm and drive to share the richness of
Bengali culture. Seven committees and one Team were formed and soon overflowed with volunteers
spontaneously. The planners tirelessly coordinated, performers practiced with passion, and everybody
dedicated their efforts and time for Durga Puja. In this endeavor, I must thank the following members:

• Our Board of Directors: Supriya Chakraborty, Sushant Bhattacharya, and Sumit Sarkar
• Head of the Puja committee: Asok Banerjee and his team
• Head of the IT committee: Samrita Neogi and her team
• Head of the Cultural committee: Arindam Ray and his team
• Head of the Fundraising committee: Devi Mazumdar and her team
• Head of the Venue, Security, & Transportation committee: Dr. Bhaskar Mazumdar and his team
• Head of the Food committee: Poulami Mazumder and her team
• Head of the Decoration Team: Sudeshna Samanta and her team
I would also like to thank all our sponsors, who enabled a successful Durga Puja. With the dedication of
our volunteers, generosity of our sponsors, and subscribers San Antonio’s Durga Puja, we are able to
experience the same nostalgic feeling that we miss so much from back home. My hope and wish is that
this celebration will enlighten our minds and spirit, inspire us to feel passion for our culture; and make our
community stronger and united. I pray for the prosperity of our community. Happy Durga Puja to all.
-Tapan Saha, President of San Antonio Bengali Cultural Community (SABCC)

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San Antonio Bengali Cultural Community (SABCC)

2019 Board of Directors

Mr. Tapan Saha Mr. Sumit Sarkar
President Treasurer & IT Chair
Mr. Supriya Chakraborty
Vice President & Cultural Chair

Mr. Sushant Bhattacharya
General Secretary & Fund-Raising Chair

According to Hindu mythology, we believe that Goddess Durga (Parvati) is the daughter of Himavat (the Himalayas), who
visits her parent’s house once a year with her children. We celebrate her homecoming as Durga Puja for consecutive five days
with tremendous enthusiasm, spirit and worship her with the shower of love and endearment as our own daughter.
During Durga Puja which is the major festival of Hinduism, the unconquerable spirit and unstoppable energies of Bengalis
literally burst forth. They get reunited and revolutionized during this time, no matter where they are. They emerge themselves
in many creative and innovative art works to transform the neighborhood into a dreamland of decorative Mandaps, lights,
music and animation etc. But the main attraction is exquisitely sculpted figures of Ma Durga and her family. Besides all these,
Bengalis come up with rich literary work and cultural program during Durga Puja. SABCC is not an exception.
‘Aadvika’ is the perfect reflection of our Bengali culture and tradition that we have been trying to inculcate in our youngsters
mainly who are being raised here with the transcultural identity. If you look at the cover page, the skyline reflects the bridging
between two popular cities of the world, Kolkata the, ‘Cultural Capital of India’ and San Antonio, the ‘Alamo City’.
Keeping all the significances of Durga Puja in mind, the entire design of the cover page has been created in a very simple but
innovative way. The crisp blue sky, riverbank, ‘Kash’ flowers everything in the cover indicates that it’s the auspicious time
when Ma Durga arrives with her four children Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh.
In my drawing, I tried to design the word ‘Aadvika’ in a unique way as Aadvika means ‘uniqueness’. All the alphabets in this
word represent some of the items that we use while worshipping Goddess Durga. Hope you all will like it and enjoy our
community’s creative world.

Illustrated by Aparajita Ghosh

4

SABCC 2019 Committees

Fund Raising

Devi Mazumdar (Head) Decoration Cultural
Jayanta Das  Arindam Ray (Head)
Abhijeet Trivedi Sudeshna Samanta (Head) Sayontani Ray Venue, Security, and
Sanjay Sen Smita Bhattacharyya Falguni Das
Anindita Gupta Sanghamitra Das Sarkar Paromita Datta
Surajit Saha Samrita Neogi Sanjay Sen Transportation
Soumya Maity Aparajita Ghosh Satarupa Dutta Das Bhaskar Mazumdar (Head)
Somesh Dasgupta Somesh Dasgupta Sourav Das Sanjay Sen
Ramkrishna Samanta Anindita Bhattacharjee Das Amit Paul Arnab Guha
Sanghamitra Das Sarkar Avanti Mullick Anindita Bhattacharjee Das Asok Banerjee
Aparajita Ghosh Banasree Sen Baishakhi Debnath Rupam Bhattacharjee
Parijat Kar Parijat kar Aparajita Ghosh Ramkrishna Samanta
Puja Nipa Bari Surajit Saha Sumanta Mitra
Asok Banerjee (Head) Bhaswati Sinha
Subrata Debnath
Amit Bhattacharyya Surajit Saha
Mohua Banerjee Somesh Dasgupta
Rama Saha Food Mala Chakraborty
Poulami Majumdar (Head) Asok Banerjee
Arindam Ray
Poulami Majumdar Banasree Sen
Banasree Sen Satarupa Dutta Das
Nandini Ghosh Choudhury Ramkrishna Samanta IT
Smita Bhattacharyya Jayanta Das Samrita Neogi(Head)
Sujata Pattadar Rama Saha Surajit Saha
Avanti Mullick Anindita Bhattacharjee Das Shruti Chakraborty
Surajit Saha Falguni Das Sangita Bhattacharjee
Aparajita Ghosh Samrita Neogi
Soumya Maity
Surajit Saha
Mohua Banerjee

Souvenir
Falguni Das (Editor)
Debashis Basu(Editor)
Samrita Neogi (Graphics)
Sangita Bhattacharjee(Graphics)
Aparajita Ghosh

SABCC sincerely recognizes all committee members and volunteers for their dedication and hard work.
SABCC is also grateful to heads of all the committees - Dr. Asok Banerjee, Mrs Devi Mazumdar, Mrs.
Sudeshna Samanta, Mr. Arindam Ray, Mrs. Poulami Majumdar, Mrs. Samrita Neogi, Dr. Bhaskar
Mazumdar for their leadership.

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Advertisers  for 2019 Durga puja Souvenir

Businesses:

Ali Baba Grocery
Himalaya Bazar
Castle Hills Family Practice
Happy Pediatrics
CMIT Solutions of San Antonio Northeast
Liza King Luxury Lifestyle
DRC Construction & Roofing
Complete Chess - Jesse James
Noor Grocery
Robert Elder (RoPax Reality Group)
Jumpy Palace
Indian Fusion
Parkhill Dental (Dr Andrew Gomes)
River City Womens Health - Dr. Ogogor
Shahi Grocery
Bina Todi Reality
Kalalaya
Kumon
Musical Art Center of SA (MACSA)
Biryani Pot
Bombay Hall
Evans Bbq
Mustafa
Royal Cuisine
SMK Consulting, LLC
UC Smile

San Antonio Bengali Cultural Community sincerely appreciates all the Advertisers

(Businesses & Greetings) for your support and participation in the celebration of

Inaugural Durga Puja Festival. 6

SABCC 2019 Sponsors

Diamond Sponsor: Dr. Subrata & Mona Talukdar

Platinum Sponsor: Dr. Bhaskar & Devi Mazumdar

Gold Sponsor: Mr.Sanjay & Banasree Sen

Silver Sponsors: Dr. Tuhin & Mukta Chaudhuri
Mr. Abhijeet & Tina Trivedi
Dr. Sridhar & Madhavi Beeram
Indo MIM

Texas Sponsors: Dr.Devjit & Dr.ChandanaTripathy
Dr. Nishi Thakur & Sanjay Kumar
Dr. Sourabh & Ripa Sinha
Mr.Sovan Sinha & Bhaswati Sinha

Mr.Saugata & Chandrika Datta

Mr.Sumit and Sanghamitra Sarkar
Mr.Supriya & Mala Chakraborty
Mr.Sushant & Nita Bhattacharya
Mr.Tapan & Rama Saha

Special Event Sponsors :

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2019  Durga Puja Tentative Schedule

6 pm  Frid a  y , O  ctober 4th  2019
7 pm 
7:30 pm   General Puja & Bodhan
8:30 pm    Arati
 Dinner
Cultural Program ( Porshia Sen - Sa re ga ma pa artist)

 S a  t  u  rday, Oct 5th  2019

10 am  Saptami Puja
12 pm  Arati/Pushpanjali
12:30 pm  Lunch
4 pm  Mahashtami Puja   
5 pm  Kumari Puja  

6 pm  Sandhi Puja & Arati

 7:30 pm  Cultural Program & Fashion Show 
9:30 pm  Dinner        

Sunday, October 6th  2019

10 am Nabami Puja
12 pm Arati/Pushpanjali
12:30 pm Lunch
2 pm   Dashami Puja
2 :30 pm 
  Dadhikarma/Farewell Treat
7 pm    Sindur Khela, Bisorjon ceremony
8pm   Dhunuchi Nach, Live Dhak
 Dinner
Cultural Program (Manisha Karmakar-Sa re ga ma pa artist) 

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Article Aarav Bhattacharyya Page(s)
Nilava Dasgupta
Shaumprovo Debnath 10
12
23,24,25

Drawing & Sketch Anshuman Das 22
Anousha Samanta 22
Ariana Chaudhary 27
Shaunak Saha 31
Aparajita Ghosh 28,37
Bhaswati Sinha 17
Piyali Mondol 18
Asmita Sinha 21
Samriddha Sarkar 35
Samadrita Sarkar 35
Samara Sheikh 26
Risheen Barman 34
Saanvi Das 44
Sanjana Sen 45
Shriya Sen 46

Recipe Arpita Ghosh 16
Poem
Jharna Das 34
Photography Ariana Chaudhary 39
Shaumprovo Debnath 41

Amitava Ghosh 11,44

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Hardship

Once upon a time, a man named Joe who would be a king in the future, was
trying to find a bride. But soon a war broke out and he had to flee. He soon was
announced the king of Banatheem. He still hadn’t found a bride. He set out a
year into his rule to find a queen. He went far and wide, but he couldn’t find
one until one day he found a bride. Her name was Larania. They had a
daughter named Laraia, who was very energetic!

But soon a dark spirit arose with an army of fire giants immune to water.
The archaeologist wondered how this was possible. They examined the giants
and discovered that they were infused with Water Resistance Potion. The
scientist created a Deactivating potion. Then the soldiers loaded their guns
with it. Just because this deactivating potion had been created, didn’t mean
that casualties were low. But the people persevered and Bantheem won the
war.

A storm soon arose, and many residents died. To save residents they got on
an airplane. They came back and the kingdom was in ruins! So, they got many
construction workers to help to rebuild the kingdom. Even though it took 5
years, the people of Bantheem never gave up and were joined by the people of
Panaratheem, Barakheem and Searabean.

After that they had a feast. Their food was good until a monster arrived.
There was fear dread and panic. Yet another war had to arise and other
kingdoms helped. The war was won, and everyone lived happily much to King
Joe’s delight.

Name: Aarav Bhattacharya

10

Name: Amitava Ghosh

11

The Amazing Train Ride

The Bernina Express, Rhaetian railway, Swiss Alps, Switzerland

I had many train rides but the ride I am going to write about is one of the most spectacular experience in
my life. The train is called the Bernina Express which runs on the UNESCO World Heritage site know as the Rhaetian
railway in the Swiss Alps.

We boarded the train in St. Moritz Switzerland this summer and you could easily mistake it for a toy train
as it was bright red in color running on cute narrow tracks. From a height of above 1800 m (5,910 ft) above sea
level, the train cruised along towards the south-east and in no time, we were amidst the mountains and valleys.
We passed a lot of tunnels, so many that each time we got out of one tunnel, we got into another. On both sides of
the train, we could see snow at the tip of the mountains, some evaporating into the clouds and some melting into
glaciers at the bottom. I could not help but stick my head out of the train to enjoy the surroundings and follow the
meandering train. At the stations, I could see people ready with their backpacks to go hiking. Our guide mentioned,
the whole area is covered in snow in winter and I started imagining the Polar Express and climbing mountains of
snow. I checked and learnt that St. Moritz had hosted two winter Olympics Games, the first one dating back to
1948. Further along, we could see many waterfalls which fed various streams and lakes along our route. It started
raining as we continued our descent and it was a different site in contrast to the snowcapped peaks. We felt a sud-
den chill in the air and were forced to down the windows. I waved at the passing trains and even counted a few
cows with large bells grazing in the lush green meadows.

When we arrived at Tirano, our destination, the rain had stopped. We hopped off the train and I turned to
look back at the mountains and said goodbye as we made our way to the bus waiting to take us back to our hotel. I
had thoroughly enjoyed the day and was lucky to have experienced the wonders of nature – sun, rain and snow at
the same time.

Name: Nilava Dasgupta

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Best Wishes

From
CMIT Solutions

13

Name: Amitava Ghosh

14

Happy Durga Puja

Best Wishes
From

Sougata & Chandrika Datta

Happy Durga Puja

Best Wishes

From
Sovan Sinha & Bhaswati Sinha

15

Name: Arpita Ghosh

16

Name: Bhaswati Sinha

17

Name: Piyali Mondal

18

India is just around the corner

Delicious Exotic Indian Cuisine

Open for Lunch 11:00 am- 2:30pm; Dinner 5:00 pm -9:30 pm; Monday-Sunday.
8783 Wurzbach Rd.

San Antonio, TX 78240.
Telephone: (210)691-5900

19

Best Wishes
 From

Ramkrishna & Sudeshna Samanta

20

Name: Asmita Sinha

21

Name: Anshuman Das

Name: Anousha Samanta

22

Royal Tigers

Between the trees, Syam, an amatuer photographer with dreams of
capturing a wild Royal Bengal Tiger in an award winning photograph,
could obscurely see an animal, orange, and striped with black. His eyes lit
up, to the bright shade of orange he had just seen.

Syam quietly approached it. He had to do this really slow, first, he
had to let it see him, but from very far away: stay far away and slowly get
closer over the course of the week. After looking for a loophole, he thought,
what if this wasn’t a fierce male tiger? What if the female wasn’t caring
for a cub and wouldn’t get mad right away? Easily, he could cut the
week in half.

The problem proved that to check if the tiger was lone female, he
would have to get close, if it wasn’t the tiger that he wanted, well, he
didn’t have much of a chance.

Bangladesh, packed with people, didn’t allow enough room for tigers to
thrive in the forest, but in the surrounding areas, many sightings take
place in the mangroves. Since there were so many trees Syam thought,
what if he snuck up on the tiger, by climbing the tree so he could see it
from above. The idea , but his conscious became skeptical: Tigers have
great hearing, great eyesight, and great stealth, a tiger could easily
sneak up on you, but you can’t sneak up on them. The other half of
him argued, you always see pictures of tigers either looking straight
at the camera, or with their head down low, never do they stare up at the
sky.

Quickly, he leapt toward the closest tree, hoping that the suspicion
from his mind would disappear, but it only amplified after he stepped on
a twig. It was of course, not the loud nap he heard in his head, but he
thought he could soon get devoured.

Cautiously, he peeked through the Heritiera (Her-i-tiera) leaves of the
Sundarban, to see that the tiger didn’t care that he heard a twig snap
nearby. Maybe he could get closer.

Name: Shaumprovo Debnath

23

Syam walked toward the tiger until he got so close, he could smell the raw
food in its breath from it’s last meal. He looked closely to realise it was a
male. Syam couldn’t shake the fact that he was standing in front of the
largest, fiercest tiger in the world.

The last time Syam had seen a tiger was a rare moment when he was
only about five or six years old, a huge Royal Bengal Tiger had passed
through his village, making the streets that were usually packed,
completely bare, it had gone from bustling with people under the hot sun, to an
eerie silence. A cold chill ran through the air, and the suns rays seemed to set
the tigers skin on fire, your eyes would be burning, while your spine would be
freezing.

Now Syam had the same sensation. He couldn’t feel the collecting heat,
trapped in by the dense growth, he couldn’t feel his feet on the moist grass
below, he couldn’t feel the weight of his camera that he’d been dragging along
all this time: He was back at his village, nearly twenty years ago.

Although Syam remained completely frozen, his mind moving as though
sailing on a tsunami: Take a picture! Run away or climb a tree! Take the picture
first! But he couldn’t put anything into action, unconsciously, his hands gradually
shook towards the camera. The searing metal shook him awake like a lightning
bolt. His hands retracted quickly, too quickly he thought. He looked up again, but
the tiger did not stir, neither did his gaze, his eyes shiny black stared into his, as
though waiting for the flash of his camera. Steadily placing his hands back on his
camera, he checked that he still had the strap on, because he felt if the tiger
made the slightest movement, he would drop it out of fright. He slowly lifted the
camera toward the slight gap between his face, and the tigers. His heart was
pelting so hard, he became afraid that the tiger would target it. The Royal tiger’s
eyes were fierce, not out of hunger, but out of his trespassing.

Name: Shaumprovo Debnath

24

ROAR! He quickly pressed the trigger and ran. He could hear
continuous roaring, heavy footsteps, and cries of pain, only after running
almost a hundred feet, did he realise he remained perfectly fine. Syam
walked quickly, yet cautiously back to where he stood, but hid in the bushes.
He saw another male tiger, clawing the back of the one he was eye-to-eye with
just a few moments prior. Before he finally brought the camera up to take
another picture, Syam stood dumbstruck for a good ten seconds.

But really, he didn’t need another photograph, that moment would always
stick to sides of his brain. He would always be able to go back to it in stunning
detail: a maze of orange and black, dancing fiercely, the picture stained with
deep maroon where a silvery-black claw pierced the skin of one of the
assailants. They were in an arena, with an audience of trees casting shade
over the fight. Now entered the special guest: the blazing sun.

Lighting up the fight, the rays reflected off the tiger’s burning fur to shine on
the lush green trees, the orange-bronze contrast with the lush green mangrove
trees, the bright, intense golden sun blinding the explorer, and as if to top it
all off, the painting doused with rich, vivid crimson.

His dreams were attained: he had his photograph.

Name: Shaumprovo Debnath

25

Name: Samara Sheikh

26

Name: Ariana Chaudhary

27

Name: Aparajita Ghosh

28

Best Wishes
 From

Dr.Devjit & Dr.Chandana Tripathi

29

Best Wishes From

Sumit & Sanghamitra Sarkar

Best Wishes From

Dr. Sourabh & Ripa Sinha

30

Name: Shaunak Saha

31

With blessings of Maa Durga,
         let's make this time of the year memorable!           

  Best  wishes
Smita &  Amit Bhattacharyya

Grocery with a good variety of Spices, Lentils, Rice, Flours, Canned and Pickled Items,
Frozen Indian Foods, Indian Sweets, Fresh Vegetables, Halal Meat – Chicken, Goat & Beef.

Also Contains A Delicious Chaat Corner

Hours: Mon – Thurs 10 AM – 10 PM Address: 20323 Huebner Road 
Fri 10 AM – 11 PM San Antonio TX 78258
Sat 10 AM – 10 PM
Sun 11 AM – 10 PM Phone: (210) 481-222 5

32

Best Wishes
 From

Dr Sridhar And Madhvi Beeram

33

Name: Risheen Barman Name: Jharna Das

34

Name: Samadrita Sarkar

Name: Samriddha Sarkar

35

Best Wishes From

Supriya & Mala Chakraborty

Happy Durga Puja

Best Wishes From

Tapan  & Rama Saha

36

Name: Aparajita Ghosh

37

Best Wishes & Puja Greetings

From
Dr.Tuhin Chaudhuri & Mukta Chaudhuri

38

Hippocrates

I was born in the island of Cos, I have done so much for
As a teacher, philosopher, and Greece, I’m helping everyone
physician. The walls of the my
out!
temple shone Without me, sickness would
like the sun as I prayed at the
overflow! Life would be
Asclepion. different, no doubt.

I believed diseases were caused I created the Hippocratic Oath
by Natural forces not spirits, I Which doctors still confess.
state.
I challenge all the other You have protect their privacy
physicians, With my medicine I And treat them your very best.
create!
I am the “father of all
Pneumonia and epilepsy, medicine”
Exercise, cleanliness, rest,
Bloodlet when you have fevers, I was mentioned by Plato
Would help my patients the best. twice!

Imbalance of the four humors My hardworking legacy lives
Was what illnesses were caused on, Even after the end of my

by. life!
I was traveling around Greece,
Making sure people stay alive. Name: Ariana Chaudhary

39

BINA TODI

Realtor
(309) 531-9140
[email protected]

40

Jasperian Bears

Not just a black bear
Not just a black bear cub
Not just a black bear cub that climbed a tree
Not just a second black bear cub
Not just an uncommon cinnamon colored black bear cub
But an entire black bear family that crossed the road together!
t an entire black bear family that crossed the road together!

Name: Shaumprovo Debnath

41

Name: Amitava Ghosh

Name: Arpita Ghosh

42

Best Wishes & Puja Greetings

From
Abhijeet, Tina & Aspaan Trivedi

43

Best Wishes
From

Dr. Lalatendu, Mrs. Tapasi,
Sukanya & Supriya Misra

44 Name : Saanvi Das

Name : Sanjana Sen

45

Name : Sanjana Sen

Name : Shriya Sen

46

Best Compliments From

4081 Medical Dr, 5712 Wurzbach Rd,
San Antonio, TX 78229 San Antonio, TX 78238
Phone: (210) 615-7861 Phone: (210) 465-9692
Website : www.mustafagrocers.co

Groceries & Staples, Fruits & Vegetables, Bread, Dairy, Eggs, Beverages, Branded
Food, Household, Imported Items, Gourmet Food, personal care etc.

Puja Leaves, Holi Colors,
Diwali Sweets from India,
largest variety of Diyas &
Sparklers are also available .

47

Durga Puja
Saraswati Puja
Rabindra Nazrul Jayanti

Mahalaya
Bijoya

Christmas
Diwali SA
IASA Diwali

And many more Fun filled events
and involvementof SABCC Family.......

48

With blessings of Maa Durga,
 let's make this time of the year memorable! 

  Best  wishes
Kunal & Jaya Karan

49

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