Dear Amigos, State of the Map Asia 2019 was a serendipity, a sweet serendipity to be honest! Being a doctoral student, I keep on receiving mails about conferences and symposiums round the clock, it happened by chance that I looked at this mail with utter solemnity. And then the caravan begun! Sawan can be the best of any administrative chairs I have ever witnessed till now! He was replying to every mails, how trivial it sounds. Honestly, at times, I was feeling annoying of myself to mail him on petty issues since I know how toiling it is to be the organizing host(s). But Kudos to this person whose replies were not only patient, but convincing of all the doubts. My expedition from Bangalore, INDIA to Dhaka, BANGLADESH was not only bewitching, but quite riveting. Firstly, I’m a Bengali and secondly, my ancestral lineage belongs from there! Dhaka was no way different from Kolkata except two facets: There is more rickshaw noticed in the streets of Dhaka and folks of Dhaka are way more affable than the Bengalis of Kolkata (Sounds offensive but hard truth, and absolutely my perspective). The volunteers at the venue were so amiable and approachable; you get a polite retort for any queries. And food… aah… the aroma, the taste, it really helped my gustatory buds to feel the palatable taste of “HOME”! Staying away from home, when one fine day, you feel the homely touch in food and that too in another nation, that feeling is empyrean! No words shall be enough to fathom the depth of knowledge I received from the speakers, say it presentations or lightening talks! In a nutshell, SotM Asia 2019 has won my heart and I would like to congratulate each and every efforts that was bestowed on this scientific endeavor, starting from the security staff to the cleaning personnel(s) who were in charge for the restrooms to the stage management members to the catering folks! It requires a holistic approach to conduct such a quids in event!

অভিনন্দন!!!