LAB3CREW, a production company has published its official video for the song “Laagthyo Timi Sagaar Mero” last week through different media in and outside the USA.
The song that has been dedicated to late Urmila Sharma, the model who acted in the song, is first made public through NTV today. Bhanu Tiwari, director of LAB3CREW and an actor of the song also published it through his Facebook page.
“We will miss Urmila,” said Bhanu, adding that this video should always be remembered and watched to salute such a great talent who is no more in this world.
The song is from the album “Amber” that is written and sung by Santosh Lama and composed by Amber Subba.
Late Sharma, who was resettled three years ago in Kansas City was from Khudunabari camp, suffered a spot death in a fatal car accident on July 2 on the Kansas Turnpike in Summer county.
A music album “Samridh” that contains songs written by Teku Chhetri was released recently in Des Moines, Iowa. The album is the second solo album by Bhutanese lyricist after the “Pahilo Bhet” by Seattle-based Khem Rizal.
The album’s cover
Lyricist Chhetri informed Bhutan News Service that his album was first released from Kantipur FM jointly by lyricist Dr. Krishnahari Baral, singer Yojana Puri and Kamal Rasaili earlier in June.
While in Iowa, Nepali singer Roshan Gurung and Bhutanese artists including Kishor Siwakoti, D.B. Tamang, Kiran Gajmere and Deepak Dasnami jointly released the album amidst a cultural night.
Speaking at the program, singer Rajesh Thapa said that he really enjoyed the melodious music from Chhetri’s album and requested all Bhutanese to help upcoming artist by purchasing its copy.
The album contains five songs sang by Nepali singers Anju Panta, Sworup Raj Acharya, Shiva Pariyar, Kamal Rasaili and Yojana Puri.
Hari Lamsali, Kamal Rasaili, Deepak Dasnami and Kiran Gajmere have composed the album that comprises both sentimental and romantic songs.
During the event, Iowans Bhutanese also enjoyed many dances and beautiful songs from Rohan Gurung, Rajesh Thapa, D.B. Tamang, Kiran Gajmere, Chabbi Neopaney, Tula Acharya, and Kishor Siwakoti.
Balika Pulami and Sita Gurung from Namaste Music Group presented a dohari (duet folk song) with Rajesh Thapa, which became a center of attraction of the musical night.
The Bhutanese Community in Iowa (BCI) also honored Bhutanese artists during the program chaired by its president Harka Biswa.
(The pictures in the gallery are courtesy of Nabin Khadka, Iowa)
A weeklong Sheemad Bhagawat Mahapurana is being held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada since August 2.
Pundit Sitaram Adhikari from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania along with two other local priests in Winnipeg, Ganaga Ram Kafley and Ganapati Gautam, have been reciting and giving the discourse of Bhagavata Purana, according to its organizer, Winnipeg Nepali Community.
The Winnipeg community in a march organized to welcome the main Pundit and local priest (Picture courtesy: Winnipeg Nepali Community)
One of the main organizing committee’s members, Tika Adhikari, informed Bhutan News Service that the seven-day Vedic knowledge-sharing event is scheduled to formally end this afternoon with lighting of 100,000 auspicious lights (fire is lit with tiny strings made of cotton) marking an end of any spiritual discourse of such a large magnitude as per Vedic tradition.
Majority from among resettled Bhutanese and dozens of Nepalese people have been a part of this event each day since its commencement, claimed Adhikari.
He said, the organizers were overwhelmed such a large participation of the community members. According to him, there are around 700 Nepali-speaking people including Bhutanese, Nepalese and India in Winnipeg, Manitaba.
“This function is organized for the first time in Manitoba and in Canada with the hope that its traditions will be followed by many more to come in the future, contributing in the promotion of the principles of multiculturalism that Manitoba and Canada practices systematically,” said Shiva Shrestha, another member of the organizing committee.
About Bhagavata Purana The Bhagavata Purana, also known as Shrimad Bhagavata Maha Purana, is the most popular and widely circulated of all the Puranas, with its focus on religious devotion to Supreme God. The word ‘Purana’ means ‘narrative of olden times’. The Bhagavata is the most complete and authoritative exposition of Vedic knowledge.
Pancha Kanya march in the front line to grace welcoming of pundit and local priests (Pic: Winnipeg Nepali Community)
It covers everything from the nature of the self to the origin of the universe, and touches upon all fields of knowledge. It raises and answers fundamental questions like what is life, what is a human being’s role in life, what is meant by cycle of birth and death, what is the relation between God and man, what are ways of propitiating God.The Bhagavata was the first Purana to be translated into a European language, with three French translations made between 1840 and 1857.
From academic point of view, Bhagavata Purana is a narration of a conversation between King Parikshit and Sage Shukadeva. King Parikshit was cursed to die in seven days by a Brahmin, so he decided to spent final days of his life in gaining knowledge about the goal of life relegating his stately duties.
As he prepares for his impending death, Shukadeva, who has been searching for a suitable disciple to whom he might impart his great knowledge, approaches the king and agrees to teach him. Their conversation goes on uninterrupted for seven days, during which the king does not eat, drink or sleep. During this time the sage explains that the ultimate aim of life lies in knowing the supreme absolute truth.
The program will be concluded with lighting of Lakh Battis (one hundred thousand lights)which is a ceremony performed for many different reasons in the Hindu religion including; to change the course of one’s life, to give good fortune, to heal health problems and many other situations. The fire is lit with tiny strings made of cotton (battis) which are soaked in sesame, sunflower or some other type of oil. The fire is lit and the healing begins. It is believed that Lakh Battis can cure problems related to eyes and heals health problems related to body temperature.
The Winnipeg Nepali Community is organizing a week-long Sheemad Bhagawat Mahapurana from Aug 2 until Aug 8 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Pundit, Sitaram Adhikari from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania along with two other Nepali priests in Winnipeg Ganaga Ram Kafley and Ganapati Gautam will recite and give the discourse of Bhagavata Purana from Aug 2-Please. Click here for details.
Aimed at creating awareness on mental health, the Bhutanese Community of Connecticut (BCC) organized poetry recitation on July 12 coinciding the 200th Bhanu Jayanti at Hartford Public Library.
Former BCC President and OBCA Northeast Regional Vice-President, Padam Bharati, chaired the event. Various.
Various literary figures from Bhutanese communities as well as Nepali communities participated in the event chaired by Padam Bharati, BCC chair and OBCA northeast regional vice-chair.
Resettled Bhutanese engage themselves to mark 200th Bhanu Jayanti in Connecticut (Picture courtesy: Padam Bharati)
Dr Maya Prabhu from Psychological Medicine Division and the Yale Law and Psychiatry Division, Yale New Heaven did a presentation highlighting the problem of mental health, encouraging and giving hope to the Bhutanese community.
Similarly, Dr Marcus Kchinney, assistant professor of Psychiatry at University of Connecticut School of Medicine also did a presentation on available mental resources for the community. While, Dr Khagendra Luital from Tribhuwan University also presented his latest paper on Bhutanese literature.
Meanwhile, Bhutanese in other states also marked the 200th birth anniversary of Nepalese poet Bhanu Bhakta Acharya by organizing similar literary and cultural programs.
Our Utah correspondent Khem Kafley reported over 200 people gathered in a community hall on July 12 to mark the Bhanu Jayanti. Several youths recited their poems, while seniors sang some portion of Ramayana, translated into Nepali by late Bhanu Bhakata.
Resettled Bhutanese in the United Kingdom and Melbourne are also reported to have marked the event.
A weeklong Srimad Bhagavata Saptaha Maha Gyan Yegya organized by Hindu Faith Trust of New Hampshire completed in Concord, NH on July 16.
The organizers claimed that the event was held with an objective of maintaining global piece, emotional wellbeing, brotherhood and spiritual enlightenment.
Aacharyas duo, Sita Ram Adhikari and Haribinod Adhikari, led a team of seven priests to accomplish the purana.
Priests and devotees march during Purana
The event was open to public from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm where devotees listened to the spiritual discourse, chanted kritans and bhajans, participated in spiritual dialogue, yoga and danced throughout the event.
United States Senator, Jeanne Shaheen, in her message to the organizing committee of the event expressed, “By providing opportunities to celebrate heritage and invite others to experience a different way of life, this week’s Purana will strengthen the ties that bind our diverse community”.
Meanwhile, governor Maggie Hassan also graced the event on July 15. She was welcomed with deo-kalash by the volunteers and was honored with abishek, garlands, traditional scarf and Bhagawat Geeta by the principal priests.
Speaking in the event governor said, “Your presence in our community and in our state is a great gift. We want to learn more about your culture and community and look forward to continue to work with you so we all get stronger and build the Granite State together”.
The Executive Councilor for Governor, Collin Van Ostern and Bill Gillette, the Dean of Business School of the Southern New Hampshire University jointly inaugurated the event by lighting lamp. During the inaugural address to the event, Ostern expressed that refugees and immigrants brought rich culture and added diversity to the hosting community.
Speaking in the event, Dr. Abhaya Asthana, the President of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) of America, who is also a Bell Labs Fellow with Corporate CTO at Alcatel-Lucent, focused in promoting educational and spiritual programs and projects that will help Hindus living in North America to remain Hindus, and through their lives contribute to the richness of their adopted land.
Dr. Asthana further stated that Hindu tradition holds a deep respect for all beings as well as nature for all is interconnected.
Welcoming the governor to the event, on behalf of the greater Hindu community, Aasish Bhattarai requested the governor to support in establishing a Hindu temple in the state of New Hampshire where people can celebrate their culture. Citing examples of other states with Hindu temples, Bhattarai said that having a temple in the Granite State would help attract tourists which will in turn help boost New Hampshire’s economy.
Singer Hari Maya Khatiwada and Tabala player, Nandu Shankar from Massachusetts made the event lively for the seven days. A team of musicians and singers from Harrisburg, PA also came to the event and offered their performance.
The chief coordinator of the event, Rohit Subedi said that in average about 500 devotees were in and out per day throughout the event. “We were so grateful to have overwhelming participation of devotees from Indian origin, Nepalese, Bhutanese and Americans in the event.”
One of the event organizing committee members, Bhagirath Khatiwada expressed gratitude to all the donors who made this event a success and thanked all the priests, devotees, volunteers and sponsors for their dedication, support and commitment for the event. In an attempt to encourage and motivate youth to volunteer in community events like this, hard-working volunteers in the event were honored on the final day.
Coinciding July 4th, the Independence Day in the U.S, Association of Bhutanese in America (ABA), hosted its seventh national convention in collaboration with Bhutanese American Organization of Philadelphia.
The first day of the two-day long gathering began with the presentation by Aaron Acharya on Education System in the US.
Acharya presented his experience and expertise on the type and system of education implying its importance to the Bhutanese parents and students in their new country of settlement.
Hani White, Assets Building and Immigrant program manager, of Women’s Opportunities Resource Center (WORC), Greater Philadelphia Area, that promotes social and economic self-sufficiency basically for economically needy women and their families stressed on encouraging Bhutanese women and their families, to take advantage of the resources available.
White spoke on how Refugee Microenterprise and Individual Development Account (IDA) programs have changed the lives of many new Americans in Philadelphia and other cities in Pennsylvania.
The second day session began with welcome speech by Bishwa Chhetri, ABA chair followed by ABA’s report presented by Kishor Pradhan, a board member.
Bishwa Chhetri addresses the convention
Aaron Acharya read the message from Tom Corbett, Governor of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
In the message, Governor stated, “Pennsylvania thrives on its vibrant cultural heritage and Bhutanese Americans represent a vital component to our Commonwealth’s diverse ethnic and social community.” He has further commended, “I commend these associations for their commitment to improving the well-being of Bhutanese-Americans by representing their interests and promoting Bhutanese history and culture.”
Fernando Trevino- Martinez, deputy executive director, Mayor’s Office of Immigrant and Multicultural Affairs in his speech stated the importance of having people with different and beautiful cultural values in a society, city and nation. “Presence of culturally rich, peace loving and laborious people from Bhutan has added yet another kind of beautiful flower in the garden of this diverse city,” said Farnando.
Janet Panning, Program Director, Lutheran Children and Family Services highlighted the progress being made by Bhutanese people in the city. “I have seen people from Bhutan progressing their lives with the spirit- U.S.A is You Start Again- and have succeeded in bringing changes in their, otherwise, hard life. You are rebuilding what you had lost. You are collecting what had scattered- hopes, dreams and who you are” said Panning.
Guest speaker of the Convention, Dr. N. Nina Ahmad, Commissioner, President’s Commission for White House Initiative for Asian American and Pacific Islander, elaborated about the crises and situations in some countries of Asia that have resulted in refugee populations and those who have found new homes in USA.
‘We are celebrating US Independence Day and the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act both of which speak to the rights of US citizens to practice their religion and culture freely. We Americans learn from seeing, understanding others’ problems. We are watching you all progressing- forgetting those hard lived days in Bhutan and in the refugee camps in this short span of time,’ said Ahmad.
Dr Nina speaks to ABA members and guests
On different note, Ahmad advised Bhutanese community members ‘Beside working to progress and changing the way of life its all of your prime responsibilities to preserving your culture, past stories, history and values. These important elements are with your seniors. Let seniors in the Bhutanese community pass their history and stories to the younger generations so that the children born and grown in the refugee camps and in the US know who they are”.
Community forum session at the end of the second day was of greater importance. The session moderated by Aaron Acharya was bit of more interactive. Participants from all walks of life expressed their opinions, suggestions and roles of leaders for leading a community to make it a vibrant and example to others.
Participants suggested community leaders to learn from the past and plan the future in the land of opportunities to guide them in overcoming the difficulties in this acute transitional period.
Songs and dances by Bhutanese children and artists were equally admired part of the two-day long convention that convened at All Saint’s Episcopal Church, Loney Street Philadelphia.
Participants as far from California, Arizona, Washington DC, Maryland and different cities of Pennsylvania convened to the event.
The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has recently addressed the parliament of Bhutan, the youngest democracy in the world. Bhutan, the only country in the world without traffic lights, is very proud to set green lights on to receive Mr. Modi as a guest in that this was his first foreign visit after being sworn in as the Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world following his landslide victory against the Congress in the last election.
The tremor, Modi’s address to the Bhutanese parliament has brought, may no longer be felt however its after effects have not yet lost its stamina among the citizens of Bhutan and has been the talk of the town especially among the ones who have been denationalized for more than a couple of decades . Over and above a hundred thousand of Bhutanese nationals had been evicted in the early 90s with a very well-rehearsed melodrama of one nation one people strategy. As they had been ejected and forcefully displaced by the then government headed by the fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, they tried to take asylum in the Indian territory of Assam and Bengal but they’d been dumped by the Indian security force to Nepal. They tried to repatriate back to Bhutan via Indian route through which they’d been driven to Nepal but India didn’t let them.
To the amazement of the audience who have been watching and listening to Modi’s address to the Bhutanese parliament that had a live streaming in the YouTube, he scans his eyes over a sheet of paper to utter even the name of the Bhutanese Prime Minister who’s been holding the position for almost a year now. Does the matured man on the toughest job of the largest democracy on the earth not have grey matter to memorize the name of his next door counterpart and keep it at the top of his head? Undeniably he does. What’s the problem then? It’s none other than the indifference to and underestimation of the green and fledgling democracy toddling in the shade of the orange and yellow flag whose mast has been clenched hard by devil claws of the king. In other words, it’s a reflection on orthodox oriental rehearsal and philosophy of discounting minors and youngsters.
Modi encountered with the slip of his tongue while addressing the assembly and made many audience of the Bhutanese origin scattered across the globe feel thunderstruck. He’s supposed to say Bhutan but states Nepal instead. How come he makes such a blunder? Does the setup of the Bhutanese parliament resemble to that of Nepal in any form? No, absolutely not. In fact, it’s unique as we can see exclusive carvings in the parliament. Even the views he would have seen while taking the pavement that leads to the entrance of the parliament house should have well reminded him of his trip to Bhutan. Is there even the slightest similarity between the national dress of Bhutan and Nepal? No, not all. Bhutan has one of the typical national dresses in the world. The national robe the Bhutanese parliamentarians and other officials were on before him distinctly disseminates information to him about Bhutan. We are humane as we’ve been taught by Alexander Pope that to err is human but Modi doesn’t even beg for a pardon for making such a simple but an enormous error that raises many eyebrows and moves heedlessly on with his speaking. We can’t find any substance and gravity in his speech as it sounds a lip service only. The entire speech he made there for which he doesn’t have any preparation as he doesn’t read it from any paper is a very clean and strong evidence about not doing any homework, his negligence and the absence of magnitude. It looks as if a leader of a political party was communicating with his cadres and general people. This is a wide disdainful grin of a big old lion at a young beautiful fawn.
As Modi’s first foreign visit to Bhutan came to the surface, some of the individuals from the Bhutanese diaspora wrote an open letter congratulating him for being the newly elected Prime Minister and basically urging him to help repatriate the Bhutanese refugees willing to go back to their country and raise the issue with the present king and the government of Bhutan but he didn’t even let a clue out to them about it.
Modi made his foreign maiden speech in Hindi. How many of the parliamentarians understand it let alone the Bhutanese illiterate and laymen/women? Had Nepali language not been removed from the school curriculum in 1989, the MPs and almost all the literate Bhutanese would have understood Modi’s speech. The same script is shared between Nepali and Hindi. Though each of these languages is an infinite set of words, most of the genuine elements of these sets fall in the intersection. Right to information is a part and parcel of democracy but Modi’s visit to Bhutan and his speech in Hindi have revealed a skeleton in the cupboard that Bhutan has still deprived its citizens of pragmatically enjoying the right to information despite the live telecast by the media with the speech being interpreted. Unfortunately the target language was Dzongkha which has 160,000 speakers as of 2006 out of the total population of 716,896 (July 2012 est.). Based on these statistics, Dzongkha is a language spoken by only 22.31% of the total population. The government of Bhutan has ignored almost 78% of its population in this grand event and violated their right to information despite the transformation of governance from absolute monarchy to constitutional democracy in 2008. Is this democracy only to the ones who speak the national language? Is there democracy in Bhutan in its real sense? These are some of the big questions that need long and in-depth address but not a blank and wooden speech.
A resettled Bhutan suffered spot death in a fatal car crash, Wednesday, on the Kansas Turnpike in Sumner County. Police identified the victim as 25-years-old Urmila Sharma.
According to media reports, the accident occurred in the northbound lanes on I-35 just north of Wellington around noon, as Sharma’s car hit a KTA maintenance truck on the road.
The driver of the truck, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, was rushed to a local hospital for treatment.
Sharma was resettled from Khudunabari camp. She was single, and was for a music video expected to be released soon.
On the initiative of community organizations and with support from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a two-day regional conference on mental health was organized in Harrisburg, PA from June 28-29.
Community organizations from around thirty cities deputed their representatives to Harrisburg to attend the training; some of the participants came from as far as Arizona.
Participants and experts of the conference
The first day was day of presentation and panel discussion. The experts presented the whole facts about how important was issue of having the conference on mental health of Bhutanese resettled in US given the number of Bhutanese resettled in Pennsylvania.
While, Bhutanese physiatrist Dr. Chhabi Timsina presented the cultural understanding and ways of treating health issues from the very traditional point of view held in common by the Bhutanese in general. Mental health issues are not yet properly understood and handled, according to him.
Dr. Ken Thomson of Squirrel Hill Clinic in Pittsburgh gave his idea about the way the issues began to be seen prominently in the resettled community in Pittsburgh and his involvement to connect to various resources on treating mental health.
The panelists discussed about the ways and means they have been employing in their respective communities to understand and provide help to those who are in emotional distress. However, there was not much understanding among the panelists to show the skill and expertise while taking some serious conditions that already lead to suicide.
The second day was spent in full for training on first aid of mental health treatment. Experts discussed a wide range of topics for covering the mental health diagnosis and handling with care or referring to mental health experts. It was an interactive training session.
The conference was a joint effort of joint effort of three community-based organizations, Bhutanese Community Organization of Philadelphia, Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh and Bhutanese Community of Harrisburg, in collaboration with ORR and Pennsylvania Department of Health through its Refugee Health Program.
