VOL - I I
JULY 2021
ISSUE - 02
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
June ‘21: another fallow month at 19. Not a Meeting, not a Convocation. The situation, however, looked up as the month progressed. From the 10,000 daily infections that Bengal had been pounded with at the beginning, to almost a tenth as the month drew to a close, the decline was as sheer as the spike. There is no denying that the restraint – lockdown, in pandemic parlance — has worked. Alongside, it cannot be gainsaid that the immunisation drive, despite the hiccups of vaccination hesitancy among a section of the population, has paid dividends. Dispelling any room for complacency, the dispensations, federal as well as state, have started initiating measures to blunt the savagery of the impending third wave — the imminence begging a far from far-fetched analogy to the proverbial sword that a wet-blanket of Dionysus had strung up with a strand of hair, never mind it was the equine variety and not the more fragile human capillary, to blight the mood of a feasting Damocles.
Little wonder then that the midmonth relaxations of the don’ts did not include an assembly accoutred in, what would appear to the uninitiated, exotic coordinates, that can be passed off as a corporate clinic – the assembly, not the regalia — aimed at easing the woes of an economically battered company, no matter how much give is imparted to that faculty commonly referred to as imagination. The cloud, however, apart from its divinely ordained role of providing reason for this time of the year to be called monsoon, accorded a medium for conducting a DBGP meeting on the 24th, — by coincidence or by design, the Universal Brotherhood Day. Incidentally, you will recall, brethren, that THE 19 had been launched on this day one year ago. With fourteen faces on the monitor, it was a fair attendance. The reference, dear reader, is to the DBGP meeting, not the launch. The probable resumption of Masonic activities from the 1st of July, adherence to appropriate safety measures once it does, the cleaning up of the Adelphi data with help from the Lodge Secretaries were discussed at length, reported the President, Bro Anil Vaswani.
This was followed three days later by the Lodge Secretaries’ meeting conducted by the District Grand Secretary, W Bro G. N. Singh. Again, taking recourse to the aforementioned nimbostratus. Bro Singh once again laid stress on the importance of the precautions to be adopted should the government relax the bar on non-corporate meetings from the 1st of July. He impressed upon the risk inherent in holding the festive board where the mask would, of necessity, have to be taken off. Talking of masks, happening to look at my N95-donned face in the mirror a few days back, I remarked an unmistakable atavism to our simian ancestors. Not that one can boast, not even at a narcissistically inclined moment, an Adonisesque countenance anyway, far from it. Reverting to the topic at hand, among the other points dealt with were the Adelphi updates and requirements from the Secretaries to close the data gap, and the vaccination status of the staff.
CHARITY BY LODGE PRINSEP, NO.2037 IN ITS CONSECRATION MONTH
Lodge Prinsep, in association with the District Grand Lodge of Bengal, distributed charity — food and clothes — on the 5th of June at a Yaas-ravaged village in the Sunderbans. Thereafter, on the 18th, its Consecration Day, the Lodge held a virtual meeting. Among other points, it was resolved to plant saplings on the driveway to replace the trees uprooted by the two devastating cyclones, Amphan and Yaas. It was also decided to feed young children at an orphanage, a project deferred till the pandemic situation eased, reported W Bro Nilanjan Sen, the Master.
A detailed report awaits you below, dear brethren, of the virtual meeting of Lodge St. Andrews at Asansol on 14th June. By Bro Jagdish Chandra Lall. Still on the sunny side of eighty, though just about, and a Mason for half of that, age has not greyed his sense of humour. Witness his analogy – tongue firmly ensconced in a visibly protruding cheek — of the recuperation of the corona-struck septuagenarians, Bro Sudip Datta and his wife, cooped in a hospital room for a fortnight, to a honeymoon. Over to Bro Lall.
Editor
VIRTUAL MEET OF LODGE ST. ANDREW
By W Bro J. C. Lall
Complying with the advice of the District Grand Secretary, W Bro G N Singh, we have started holding virtual meetings on the scheduled dates of our Regular Meetings. At our last Zoom meeting on 14th June ’21, it was resolved that like the other lodges of our District, we too should come forward to lend a hand to persons afflicted with Corona. However, in view of a majority of our members being above 60, it was not feasible to render physical assistance of any form. Bro. Dr. Alok S. Datta suggested that a fund be collected from all brethren and the same be donated to some recognized NGO engaged in serving such distressed people. Responding to the call, each and every member came forward and a sum of Rs. 18600/- was collected, which was rounded off to Rs 20,000/at the WM, Bro Utpalendu Majumdar’s suggestion. Members of the Lodge Committee had several suggestions regarding passing on the sum to any of the PM Care Fund/ CM Relief Fund/Old Age Home/NGO, etc. It was eventually resolved, at Bro Bipin Chattoraj’s suggestion, that it be handed over to BHARAT SEVASHRAM SANGHA, Kolkata, a well recognized NGO. A Swamiji from Bharat Sevashram Sangha came to Kulti from Kolkata on 4th July, 2021 and the cheque was handed over to him by Bros. Utpalendu Majumdar, Bipin Chattoraj, Adnan Hassan, Satish Kumar Khanna and J.C.Lall.
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EDITOR: Amit Dutt
Mobile: +91 98312 23230, E-mail : a_k_dutt_06@yahoo.com
DISTRICT GRAND SECRETARY: Gyanendra Narain Singh
Mobile: +919230613338, 9903033599, E-mail : dgsofbengalfm@gmail.com
Freemasons’ Hall, 19, Park Street, Kolkata – 700 016, West Bengal, India.