Pahela Baishakh is the essence of our culture

Pahela Baishakh is the universal festival of all Bengalis, whether Muslim, Hindu, Christian or Buddhist. If one believes in Bengali nationality, this day is respected by everyone. Fortunately, leaving aside the controversy over the name of the fine arts procession, this festival is becoming more colourful day by day with various arrangements, full of colour, beauty and splendour.

Although many new dimensions have now been added to Pahela Baishakh in city life, our rural Baishakh still continues in its original form. In village life, the Bengali month remains the only calendar for counting the years. In an agricultural economy, the whole year revolves from Baishakh to Chaitra. 

From preparing the fields to sowing and harvesting crops, everything follows the Bengali months. The crops of Agrahayan or the Chaitali crops harvested in Chaitra are all planned according to the days and hours of the Bengali calendar. Even today, people carefully remember their dates of birth according to the Bengali calendar. As a result, when the leaves begin to fall in Phalgun and Chaitra, when the time comes for mango, jackfruit and litchi to blossom on the trees, and when new clouds appear in the bright sky, they understand that the old year has gone and a new day is approaching. They welcome it with love, because the New Year is about to arrive with all its possibilities. 

Before the New Year comes, household preparations begin. It is customary to paint and clean the houses, sweep the courtyards and fences, remove old and worn-out things, and make everything look bright and new. This auspicious feeling of renewal is part of our life. There is no difference between rich and poor in this tradition. Everyone celebrates in their own way.

Just as farmers wash and clean their ploughs and yokes on the day of Chaitra Sankranti, housewives have a custom of exchanging raw vegetables grown in the Rabi season in the afternoon. They cook these vegetables and share them with each other to eat the next morning. They believe that if you cook in Chaitra and eat on Baishakh, you will not fall ill. Unlike in city life, they have no special custom regarding taking ‘Panta Bhat’ on this day, because everyone eat ‘Panta Bhat’ every day, whether rich or poor.

Even without any Punya, there are markets and shops that are refreshed, accounts are settled, sweets are distributed, and joy is shared. Like Eid or Puja, this happiness is enjoyed by people of all religions and castes.

Fairs are held on the occasion of Pahela Baishakh. These are no longer simple fairs. They have become large economic platforms in villages and towns, where buyers and sellers from far and wide gather, and business worth lakhs of taka takes place. Traders make great preparations before the fair. It can be said that a huge economic activity happens across the country on the occasion of Pahela Baishakh. 

Baishakhi clothes, handicrafts, jute and jute products attract people in a new way. At the fairs there are colourful bamboo decorations, clay toys, and various necessary household items. There are also Nagar Dola, Jari songs, puppet shows, and sometimes circuses. In riverside areas, boat races become a great attraction in the villages.

In the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, the three main small ethnic groups celebrate this day of the year with great enthusiasm. The Tripuras celebrate Baisu, the Marmas celebrate Sangrai, and the Chakmas celebrate Biju. Their preparations for this festival are endless, and so is their joy. Large numbers of people from different parts of the country gather there.

When we were children in the nineteen-seventies, the first day of Baishakh in Dhaka meant a holiday for offices, courts, schools and colleges. City people did not even keep proper track of this day. New Year celebrations were completely family affairs. No one talked much about it. My mother knew the dates of the Bengali months throughout the year and would mention them when needed. So when Baishakh arrived, she would say in a firm voice, “Tomorrow is the first day of the New Year. Be well. No one should be upset.” 

My father would buy a big fish from the market and arrange it. It would be cut into different pieces and cooked in different dishes, and that was all for taking in the lunch. In the nineteen-seventies and eighties, I do not remember any special arrangements, festivals or fairs for the first day of Baishakh in the daily life of Dhaka’s citizens. Although there were programmes at Ramna Batamul organised by Chhayanaut, they were not as influential in ordinary life as they are today.

Nowadays, Baishakh appears in the life of city people every year with some new feature. The fair of Baishakhi products begins before Baishakh and continues throughout the month. There is no escape from being part of the Baishakhi excitement in public life, the main part of which is clothing and cottage industries. Long before Baishakh arrives, fashion houses become busy creating new colours and designs to attract customers. Big, small and medium-sized textile traders, both in the city and in smaller places, remain fully occupied.

For the young generation in the cities, Baishakh is a lively and colourful festival. For those dressed in white-and-red traditional sarees and punjabis, Baishakh is not just a festival of hilsa, panta and adda. It is a time to leave behind the old, worn-out and unpleasant things and embrace new dreams. It is also a golden opportunity to recognise one’s own heritage and culture. 

May this sustainable culture, which has grown from the life experiences of the farming people of the past, become like a great banyan tree of our non-communal spirit and give shade to everyone forever. This is my wish on the auspicious occasion of the New Year.

Writer: Nasima Anis is a fiction writer