Bengali mega-show casts spell on Toronto

TORONTO: The heart of Toronto city turned into a mini-Bengal as more than 50,000 Bengalis from North America and India descended on the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to join in what has been billed as the biggest Bengali cultural show outside West Bengal. The 28th annual North American Bengali Conference (NABC), a three-day long cultural extravaganza, began here Friday evening. Before the ceremonies started, the organisers highlighted the growth of the community as well as the NABC in North America over the years. They said the NABC connected Bengalis all over North America with one another and with their native land. In his inaugural address, Indian consul general Satish Mehta lauded the exemplary role of the community, recalling how Bengal gave India its greatest leaders and thinkers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Aurobindo... [read full story]