On a bright Sunday afternoon in late April, more than聽a dozen聽members of the 鈥淐olorado Literary and Cultural Society鈥� gather at a clubhouse of a condo complex in Aurora.聽 First things first, lunch is served:聽jasmine rice with chicken curry, egg masala, and traditional聽daal, or lentil soup.
The Colorado Literary and Cultural Society conduct their monthly meeting on April 24, 2016.
After everyone has had their fill, the meeting officially starts with host Amitabh Rakshit explaining to members the purpose of the Society, its history, and the process of sharing their art.
The Society is a collaborating group of Bengali writers, poets, artists and musicians from all over the Front Range. 聽Group members meet once a month to share and discuss their creative work, as well as to strengthen cultural bonds in the region鈥檚 growing Bengali immigrant community.聽 Established in 2012, the group has grown steadily since its inception and publishes selected contributed works to聽Aspen, an annual self-published magazine.聽 The group is made up of聽first- and second-generation immigrants from Bangladesh and East India. 聽Contributors range in skill from budding artists seeking an audience, to award-winning literary heavyweights.
The location of the meeting moves to a different member鈥檚 home each month, and the host usually organizes and conducts the session while providing ample聽food and refreshments.聽 There is no established leadership structure in the group and no set rules for membership.聽 However, there is an expectation that all in attendance, including those who are there merely to observe, offer feedback to contributors so that a lively discussion can take place.
The process of sharing begins when a contributor is called on to get on the 鈥榟ot seat鈥� and present their work to the audience, after which they are offered praise and critique, with an emphasis on encouragement and constructive criticism.
The Society鈥檚 meeting on April 24聽is led by contributions from younger members of the group.聽 First up is Pradipta Bhakta, recently arrived from West Bengal, who reads a travelogue she wrote聽about wandering around a small fishing village near Kolkata, on India鈥檚 Eastern border with Bangladesh. In Bengali, she describes her experiences as she walks long, windy dirt roads, encountering lively fishermen and shopkeepers. She provides聽rich detail to the sights and rhythms of everyday life in that small, vibrant corner of the world.
Up next is Cynthia Kalam, a substitute teacher who moonlights as a freelance poet, recites several selections of English poems she plans to publish later this month.聽 Her writing is deeply rooted in love and loss, with intense brooding and sensual imagery twisting through each stanza.聽 One of her poems, titled 鈥淪tarfall,鈥� begins:
We gazed absently out the windows of the train car
And the landscape slices by, the bleeding sunset an open wound.
It weeps and fades like us into satin and rust
And we鈥檙e left staring at the face of a bloodless white moon.
The final member of the younger contingent is Rahat Ibn Rafiq, a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at CU 麻豆影院, attending his first meeting of the Society.聽 Initially nervous about presenting his work to the audience, he eventually聽takes the hot seat.聽 He presents two selections, a Bengali story written in stream of consciousness, and a short story in English titled 鈥淭he Ship,鈥� about a young man who longs for a dream that seems forever out of reach.
After each contributor finishes speaking, the members offer their reflections.聽 The writers are encouraged to continue publishing their work, and to seek wider avenues in mass media to reach a larger audience.聽 The writings will be shared to the Society鈥檚 e-mail newsgroup and may be published in聽Aspen聽at year鈥檚 end.
Contributors continue to share their work through the afternoon and evening.聽 As night falls the members take their leave, and the Society adjourns until May.