Model, polyglot, community worker Mampi Ghosh is the face of New York, writes Shahed Alam

When my dad says ‘Kos Ki’ in a pure ‘Dhakaiya’ accent, I get amused. Even when he gets angry and uses Bangla slangs, no one around him understands, and it’s fun!

Learning a language is no less than a herculean task. But Mampi Ghosh, a Nepalese girl who works as an assistant at a New York based law firm, will surely disagree. Mampi has learnt four languages so far, and can understand another two. Before joining the firm in Manhattan, Mampi worked as a journalist for the most popular television station of Nepal, Kantipur News. She used to host a television show, The Pabankali Show. This made her so popular in Nepal that now she is known as Pawankali to the Nepalese. Six years ago, she arrived in New York to do, what she calls, “extra-ordinary” things. Upon receiving a green card, she joined a law firm with a view to helping those from the Nepalese community in USA. “My father is from Bikrampur of Bangladesh, while my mother has her origins in Pabna. Besides that, we used to live in Kolkata for a while, so I learnt the languages from my parents,” she explained when queried about how she learned Bangla. “And since I

was born in Nepal, so Nepalese is my mother tongue. Besides, you know, we can’t survive without English here in New York, so I had to learn English as well. And now, I can speak in Bangla, Nepalese, Hindi and English,” she added. She was talking to me in Bangla, as if it was her mother tongue. So I asked her what she loves most about our language which made her laugh. She said, “When my dad says ‘Kos Ki’ in a pure ‘Dhakaiya’ accent, I get amused. Even when he gets angry and uses Bangla slangs, no one around him understands, and it’s fun!” When I reached her apartment at Elmhurst, I found her praying after her day-long fast. A huge admirer of western culture, Mampi is also devoted to her religion. “You may call me marriage material,” Mampi said with a laugh. “I love cooking, I do almost all the religious rituals. I learned it from my parents and I love to do these,” she added.

“Then why are you still single?” I asked her and she laughed aloud. “Just know I am yet to find that guy. Find me someone, but of course make sure he is taller than me,” Mampi continued with a smile on her face. “It’s tough to find someone who loves both western culture and religious rituals at the same time. And at least he should know Hindi; my parent needs to interact with him, right?” Mampi has become now a popular face in New York and New Jersey, thanks to her joining the ramp as a model. Besides, she occasionally works for some Bangladeshi organizations here as a model. And of course, she anchored a number of events here, something she loves doing. Her accent and ability to speak in Bangla, Nepalese, Hindi and English has made her the face of South Asians here. “See, it’s not about money. I enjoy joining these events because I can interact with so many people of my community, my country, my sub-continent. It’s about the culture I have inherited,” Mampi said. But Mampi’s increasing popularity among Bangladeshis is an interesting story. One day before getting on the ramp, she came to know about a national-award winning Bangladeshi make-up artist who was working behind the stage. While having a chat with him, she came to know he was trying to acquire a green card but couldn’t manage it yet.

Mampi asked him to come to her office and gave a list of papers which he needed for his application. Within six months he received his green card with the help of Mampi. After that, Bangladeshis and even South Asians started crowding at her office. “Since then, I have helped 25 people get their green cards. And many of them are from the Bangladeshi film and media industry. I am blessed to have this opportunity to help them. Only thing I need is their blessings,” Mampi kept saying, “Now all the Bangladeshis love me a lot for what I have done for them, and their love and blessing is my achievement.” “Then, any plan to visit Bangladesh?” I asked. “Oh, you don’t need to worry, I have already made a list of places I am going to visit and Bangladesh is at the top. Soon, very soon.”