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 |
