The waiting room at the law office of Gell & Gell in Lower Manhattan was packed with men, women and little children, all dressed in casual clothes, and not in business suits as one might expect. The phones rang relentlessly, overwhelming the young receptionist. She answered each call and, from time to time, spoke in both Bengali and Hindi.
Amid the chaos, a white middle aged man came into the reception area from inside the office. He accompanied a Bangladeshi woman. Dressed in a pale green shirt and black pants, he tried to comfort her. Holding her hand, he repeatedly told her “chinta korona,” a Bengali term meaning “don’t worry.”