Bihu

Everyone talks about Bihu - then and now. Everyone says it was better “then”, than “now”. I beg to differ. For me all the Bihu celebrations have something special to offer. So what, if the celebration of Bihu has changed over the ages? Change is inevitable. We all have to keep up with time and adjust accordingly. Today we do not have enough time and convenience to do all the things that are associated with the Bihus. It doesn’t matter when you were born and how you remember your Bihu celebrations. Bihu is always a special celebration that is closest to the hearts of all the Assamese people around the globe. We love Bihu, be it the vibrant Rongali Bihu or the feastful Magh Bihu. Well, Kati Bihu always takes a backseat because of obvious reasons. All the Bihu celebrations of my life have been pleasant ones. At least I would like to think so. This may be because; nothing could ever dampen the spirit of Bihu in us Assamese.

Today, we celebrate Bihu in our own little ways, feeling equally excited every time. Although the first thing we all would like to do on Bihu is to be at our parental home where we grew up and enjoyed the Bihus in their totality. But due to the many difficulties, obligations and responsibilities of modern lives, it is sometimes not possible to be at the right place at the right time. However, no matter where we are, we make sure that we celebrate Bihu in some special ways to mark the Axomiya “jatiyo utsab”.

To cite a few examples, Pushpanjali, a friend of mine, an Assamese to the bone marrow, is celebrating Bihu in her newspaper office in Bangalore. She has asked her brother to courier some Pitha so that she can reduce the pangs of missing home.

Another of my friends, Prity in Australia has learnt Pitha making, so that she doesn’t have to survive with the cravings for Pitha, especially during the Bihu days. Thanks to her technically savvy mother who e-mailed her the recipes and processes of Til Pitha and Ghila Pitha making.

In Delhi, when work kept us from going home for the Rongali Bihu, just to make ourselves feel good, we (a few Assamese girls) used to make time to at least go to Assam Bhavan near Kautilya Marg, wearing Muga Mekhela Sador to have an Assamese thali in the cafeteria. The saak bhaji, alu pitika and maasor tenga never felt so heavenly.

A friend of mine in Singapore, Animesh, married to a local girl there, craves for Assamese home food. Last Magh Bihu, the craving finally seemed to have crossed all boundaries. Since he was missing the feasting of Magh Bihu with family and friends for years, last January he decided to celebrate a real Magh Bihu in Singapore. Hunting the market for half a day, he collected some of the close to home ingredients and invited all his Chinese friends to celebrate Magh Bihu at his home. A small Meji was built in front of his home and a bonfire and barbequed snacks marked the celebration.

Once in Delhi, a few of my Assamese friends and I celebrated Magh Bihu in a grand way. We made sure that everyone’s favourite Assamese dish was made. At first only a few Assamese girls got together for the occasion, but word of mouth got spread so fast that we ended up having seventeen “khaar” (Assamese living outside Assam call themselves Khaar as in Khaar khua Asomiya) friends who invited themselves to the celebration. Bon fire is a must on Magh Bihu and we had no idea how to arrange for the firewood. Then an idea struck in the middle of the INA market itself, where we were shopping for the feast. We requested the fruit vendors to donate us the discarded wooden fruit boxes and they happily obliged. Firewood was ready for that perfect bonfire just in front of my residence.

In Kolkata, a few of my Assamese friends are getting together for Rongali Bihu this year too (we have been celebrating Rongali Bihu in Kolkata since 2009). Some of them are students and some are working professionals. The process of deciding the venue, menu and time, is still on. I look forward to be a part of that celebration this time as well.

With the passage of time, my friends and I have moved on changing cities and countries. But the spirit of Bihu remains intact in our hearts and always will be. Although I am in Mumbai now, whenever I hear the cuckoo singing in the big “Krishna Chura” tree behind the St Theresa’s Church near my home in Bandra (W), my heart skips a beat. I realise that Bihu is just around the corner. The Cuckoo, like a sincere messenger tells me with his coos, ‘here comes the most exciting festival of your life’.

In India, Rongali Bihu is celebrated with different names in different states. Being an agrarian economy, almost all the states of India follow the same agricultural calendar. All the states celebrate their traditional New Year festival during this time of April. Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Vishu in Kerala, Baisakhi in Punjab and Nababarsha in West Bengal are nothing but Rongali Bihu celebrations in their own respective ways. The festivities are the same, the spirit is identical and the attachment of the locales towards these festivals is the same. I have to confess though, that when in Assam, I can smell Bihu in the air and the feeling is matchless. I can’t wait to get home for this Bihu......Happy Rongali Bihu to all of you....

An unofficial Bihu google doodle I found on the internet 

Magh Bihu Bhogali

I am writing this blog with a smile on my face. I hope everyone who reads this blog feels the same joy while reliving the moments I am going to share here. I felt happiness and a great sense of belonging while celebrating Magh Bihu in Kolkata this year. Till the morning of Uruka day, the members of Sristir Ramdhenu (SR) had no plan of celebrating Magh Bihu. There were many hurdles to cross in the form of finding a place in Kolkata for bonfire, contacting all the members which meant uncountable phone calls, collecting money and so on. Since everyone is having full time jobs to attend to, it leaves them with very little time to think of anything else. However, on the evening of Uruka the Assamese spirit emerged with full vigour and the boys a.k.a. the most active members of the group decided to make Bhogali Bihu happen – no matter what.

Unlike other past events, where I participated actively, I couldn’t do the same this time, as I had to attend to some medical issue at home. However, when the boys (Bhaskar, Uddipta, Hemanta and of course Proloy) contacted me, I was free enough to take part in it. Hence, I hopped on, in the organisation of the celebration too. We were in it together and we wanted to make the best out of this team of organisers. All the social networking groups/community sites were updated, members contacted and informed. The spirit of Magh Bihu was poking the members to do something about it and everyone said YES to the proposition. We all had smiles on our faces. :) We will have Magh Bihu feast on the day of Magh Bihu (the day after Uruka). But we all know that a few hours delay hardly matters when there is so much of positivity involved.

Now, Proloy took the highest initiative by arranging for a place for bonfire and feast. It was a walled open space in the front yard of a school. Till late night of the Uruka day, we were on conference calls discussing, making lists of to dos and how to dos and so on.
Next day, the day of Bihu, Uddipta called and asked “Who would cook?” Bhaskar said (on con call) the boys can do it themselves. But I knew nobody had the experience of cooking for so many people at one go. We were 35 people and there were several items on the menu. Hence Uddipta and I decided to hire a cook. I started calling my contacts in Kolkata and luckily found a cook in such a short notice! Another hurdle crossed. Bhaskar and Uddipta went veggie shopping after consulting the cook. I offered to sponsor one of the must-haves/must eats of Magh Bihu, the Kaath alu. I also informed the boys that I would be bringing the sweets and it will be on me. I attended to home chores. Apart from phone calls, guests at home kept me busy.

Evening approached…umm…let me call it late afternoon. Proloy called me and asked if I am ready and going to the venue. He reached there before time to arrange the seating and bonfire etc. I said I’ll be there in 30 minutes. Hiranya called (he was given the charge of arranging firewood) and asked me if I can go to Panchanantala and bring the firewood in my car. Ahem, well, I know I am very accommodating, but firewood in my delicate Ford Fiesta? I suggested him to hire a cab instead. He got the point. I reached the venue and saw Proloy bickering with the cook and his helper. The cook was of the opinion that it was getting too late for the things to get ready and that might result in a very late dinner. We both made the cook understand that it wouldn’t matter and he can take his own sweet time to finish the dishes.
Uddipta and Bhaskar entered with a rickshaw-full of things. Madhurjya, a member of SR came in with his sister who was visiting Kolkata and missing home on Bihu. One by one, people started getting together and the chairs got all filled. Uddipta suddenly looked anxious and I enquired why. He asked what to do about drinking water! Hemanta suggested we buy mineral water bottles for all. But that would be expensive. I suggested we get those big 20 litre gallons of mineral water. Since I take those at home, I called up the water supplier and he said he kept two with the security guard of my apartment and I can take those. Problem solved. I went home and dumped the two 20 litre bottles of Bisleri water in the car dickey, collected the sweets and kaath alu and I was good to go for the night again.
Since many members and wanna be members knew my numbers, they started calling me to enquire about the direction of the venue. One of those calls was from Firoze Maran. The conversation went like this:

FM: Hello, are you organizing the Magh Bihu under Sristir Ramdhenu group?

Me: Yes we are and may I know who is speaking please?

FM: I am Firoze Maran and I am at Assam House now. Me and my friend thought we would celebrate Magh Bihu at the Assam House’s Magh Bihu celebration. But we are bored to death here. Can we come over to your celebration please?

Me: Of course you can. Just come over. We are at …..

FM: Okay we’ll be there.

Another call vibrated my mobile phone. Here’s the conversation:

Me: Hello, Pranjal, tell me.

P: Are you guys not celebrating Bihu at the Assam House?

Me: No, that celebration is by ASL. We are celebrating elsewhere.

P: Oh! Assuming that you are celebrating here, I reached Assam House and it is really getting lousy here. Is it too late for me to join you guys now?

Me: Nope, come over. We are celebrating at….. (I gave him the direction and the address of the venue).

I reached the venue. The bonfire was lit and that excited everyone with the real spirit of Magh Bihu bonfire. The kaath alu was put in the pile of burning wood for roasting. Now came the part when everyone had to introduce oneself to the others, so that if someone is new in the SR community, they would know who is who. This part was interesting for me too as I got to know a few new faces and their professions. Sristir Ramdhenu was getting richer with such valued new members. Once the introduction session was over, it was time for some real thing – Bihu songs and Bihu dance. Bhaskar, our community singer started singing some soulful yet melodious and peppy Bihu songs. The rest of the members got into the groove and all got up to shake that thing … you know what I mean. :)
Hiranya took charge of the kaath alu roast and served the same after peeling and cleaning those. Those were yum!

I must mention that Firoze Maran was one of the best Bihu dancers in the group of more than 35 people. Rituraj sang his favourite Bihu songs and Uddipta was encouraging him as well as Bhaskar. We all did not realize when the clock struck 11 pm. The food was ready by then and some of the children started yawning and pulling their mother’s clothes for want of some cozy place to sleep. So, we decided to serve food to the children first. Families who had to travel back far were served dinner next. The feedback on the food was absolutely positive. I was happy with the cook. All the members finished having food batch by batch. Sweets were served and during the entire time photographs were shot and video cameras were rolling. After food and a group photo session, members were leaving with a full stomach and a satisfied heart. It was past midnight and I was worrying how the girls will reach their respective homes. After arranging for car pools for some, I offered a home drops to six of them and they all hopped on my car. It was cramped with limbs going here and there to make space for everyone. I couldn’t stop laughing! Once the vehicle started to move, everyone settled down. Dropping them at their respective residences, I went home and reached home at around 1.30 am. 

I was all smiles with a satisfied mind and soul. I sms-ed the boys congratulating them on the successful event. We all slept off wearing a smile on our faces.