In addition to providing a space in which Bengalis who have immigrated to the US and are residing in the greater Harrisburg area can experience, enjoy, and preserve Bengali culture, ABHA also provides an important service to two other groups as well: the next generation of Bengalis–young Bengali Americans–who have grown up or are growing up in the US, and any non-Bengalis who feel drawn to the riches of this wise and wonderful culture.  For both of these groups, America is home, and it is Bengal that is the distant, far away land.  But both groups nevertheless feel a profound connection to the culture of Bengal and want to play a role in helping to sustain it in the greater Harrisburg area, and to help weave it into the broader tapestry of American life.

For the first group–young Bengali Americans–Bengali culture is a heritage passed on to them by their parents.  It makes them distinctive within the surrounding culture of central Pennsylvania.  ABHA serves this group by instilling a sense of pride that the culture they have inherited from their parents can enrich the American experience and be no less of a contribution to the life of this country than the many cultures that have come here in the last two to three centuries.

For the second group–non-Bengalis drawn to Bengali culture– ABHA provides an entry point to a vibrant culture full of wisdom and beauty that they can enjoy as much as they can any other culture.  Some of the ties that these people feel to Bengal–often solidified by the bonds of marriage–are no less profound, though of a different type, than those felt by those who have come from Bengal and their children.  Ever since Swami Vivekananda came to America to proclaim the universal message of Vedanta, the people of America have responded appreciatively to the Bengali culture that he represented–a tradition upon which ABHA will build.

Dr. Jeffery D. Long
Professor of Religion and Asian Studies
Elizabethtown College
Elizabethtown, PA

Operational Committee:

Current Operational committee volunteers are:

  • Amitava Kumar
  • Anirban Dasgupta
  • Avinash Shaw
  • Kanti Das
  • Kausik Bandyopadhyay
  • Mahua Bhattacharya
  • Moonmoon Sen
  • Rahul Roy
  • Shatarupa Podder
  • Sriya Roy Chowdhury