POILA BAISHAKH : THE BENGALI NEW YEAR AND A SNEAK PEEK INTO IT.

April 17, 2017

POILA BAISHAKH : THE BENGALI NEW YEAR AND A SNEAK PEEK INTO IT.

What is "Poila Baishakh"? Is it just the starting of the Bengali New Year as the name very well suggests? (Poila meaning first, Baishakh being the first month of the year; synonymous to a Bengali January perhaps.)Or is it yet another one of those grand, pompous Indian festivals? Being a pure Bengali inside out, I could clarify the above questions with sufficient ease I suppose.

We have a very popular saying in Bengali which goes as " Baro mashe tero parbon ". It literally translates to celebrating thirteen festivals in twelve months , a sarcastic yet comical take on the prodigious number of festivals we have in our culture. And this festival , my friends, is the beginning of it all. The quintessential Bengali New Year.

BENGALI NEW YEAR : A RELIGIOUS AMALGAMATION

If we take a quick look at history, the Bengali calendar, a solar calendar, has been in existence since times much before the existence of the Mughal empire in India itself. The traditional Bengali calendar caught attention of the Mughal emperor Akbar when farmers in his empire faced difficulty in paying taxes, often resulting in failure to do so. The Islamic lunar calendar prevalent did not conform with the harvest seasons and it is to ease this situation that a calendar integrating both Islamic and Bengali calendars was formulated and the "Din e Ilahi" or "Tarikh e Ilahi" was formed. One can find a mention of this in Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen's "Argumentative Indian" as well. This calendar with some further modifications went on to become Bangladesh's national calendar while in India (Bengal), we still follow the old, traditional, unrevised Bengali calendar. It is based on this unrevised calendar that the Hindu astronomical almanac (better known as Panjika or Panji) is published every year, which not only contains all Hindu festival dates, holidays and astronomical timings but also Islamic, Christian, Buddhist, et all holidays. The Bengali year is known as "bongabdo". This year we welcome 1424 bongabdo.

Apart from that, the New Year is welcomed by most spiritual Bengalis by praying to their respective Gods and Goddesses. A very popular practise is the Haal khaata that most Bengali businessmen observe on this day. A 430 year old tradition, it is basically the opening of a new ledger book for the new year along with praying to the lords of wealth, Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi. Many visit the famous Dakshineshwar Temple on this day. For some the year begins by taking a dip in the holy river Ganges , washing off all their sins and starting afresh.

Devotees waiting with their Haal khatas in Dakshineshwar temple.

BENGALI NEW YEAR : A SOCIO-CULTURAL EVENT

I believe it is part of Bengali ethos to include a little bit of Rabindranath in everything they do. Consciously or unconsciously. Be it school essays or paara (neighbourhood) functions or at times even at MUNs and debates. One might argue that Tagore is India's pride but what to the entire world is Rabindranath Tagore, to us Bengalis is "Robindronath Thakur" : a sentiment. If you ever find a bengali speaking to another bengali and saying "Rabindranath Tagore", definitely judge him/her. And what good is Poila Boishakh without some Rabindrasangeet, right? On this day(or week : sometimes we have a habit of extending our festivals), you might find little girls dressed in bright yellow saris wearing garlands ,dancing in sync at paara functions to "Esho hey boishaak".

Here I'd like to point out a small thing. If you've ever been to any traditional Bengali gathering or any cultural Bengali event, you might have noticed that we Bengalis usually don't jive to loud music. In most other Indian communities dancing to very fast paced, vibrant music is an integral part of their celebration. But Bengalis usually like it toned down. That, obviously is fast changing with Bollywood and international music making it's entry everywhere.

Children performing on the occasion at a society function.

BENGALI NEW YEAR : A COMMUNAL INTEGRATION

Poila Baishak may be a Bengali affair but around this time, one will find the entire country busy with festivities of some sort or the other. Be it Baisakhi in the North(Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal etc.), Vishu (Kerala), Ugadi (Andhra , Telengana and Karnataka) in the South , Rongali Bihu (Assam), Poila Baishakh (Bengal) or Pana Sankranti (Odisha) in the East : the first day of the year is celebrated with a lot of fun, frolic and gaiety. We also have GudiPadwa (Maharashtra) in the west which is the Marathi New Year and happens somewhat around the same time,but is celebrated a little before these festivals as it follows the lunar calendar.

Rongali Bihu dance

The concurrence of so many festivals is not a mere coincidence but has various geographical, scientific and religious aspects to it. Agriculture accounts for a greater percentage of India's GDP. In fact according to some sources, India is the world's second largest in terms of farm output and seventh largest agricultural exporter . Now the month of Baishakh is a month of harvest ; a month for almost 50 % of India's workforce to rejoice. So one might now realize how important this event is for the entire nation .

India is one country with diverse cultures and traditions and each of the communities have their own calendars! As bizarre as it may sound with one country having so many calendars, but interestingly all of them are quite similar. That is because all of them are solar calendars and primarily Hindu (or Sikh, in case of Vaisakhi) calendars, conforming with different important Hindu dates.

The bottom-line is , as diverse as it may be, celebrations all over the country at the same time brings in a factor of unification : truly living up to the phrase of "unity in diversity".

A picture that sums up all the festivals in one day.

BENGALI NEW YEAR : FOODGASM

One can miss everything out in Poila Baishakh but not the food. Bengalis are famously known for their love for food and culture. No true Bengali event is complete without good food. Elsewhere, the festival is prioritas while food is a part of the festival. But for a Bengali, festivals are centered around the food and not vice-versa.

Traditionally, on Nobo Borsho (Nobo : New, Borsho : Year) , mothers and grandmothers would cook exquisite Bengali dishes that would be served on brass plates or banana leaves. Some famous must have dishes would be Sorshe Ilish, Daab Chingri, Bhetki maacher paturi, Kosha Mangsho, Postor Bora and many more. A Nobo Borsho lunch is the most awaited event of that day. However, with changing times and career-centric lives, home cooked Nobo Borsho lunches are fast becoming a tale of the past. It is the age of restaurants and on this day, one will find snaking queues in front of each restaurant. And if it's a Bengali restaurant , then rest assured your minimum waiting time might exceed a good 60 minutes.

Bengali foodgasm doesn't end here. Bengali and no sweets? Really? How come one forget mentioning Rosogolla, Chom chom, Pantua, Channar Jilipi, Rajbhog ,Mihidana, Payesh, Mishti Doi, etc ,etc.It is on days like Nobo Borsho that wherever you go, even to random stores on the street, you'd be greeted with a box of sweets. No, you don't take one sweet out of the box, but you're given the entire box to take home! Every Bengali house is stocked with sweets that day, the sweet shops working overtime. Sweet New Year for us!

Sweet feast!!

BENGALI NEW YEAR : THE DAY BONG BECOMES BANGALI

This bit is dedicated to all the pretentious, tyansh gorus, who take pride in the fact that they can hardly speak in their mother tongue! Don't get me wrong, it is not about those who might not have had a chance to learn proper conversational Bengali because they've been living outside Bengal (although they too should make an effort to know their mother tongue). It is about quite a few of those I've come across who in spite of being born and brought up in the heart of Kolkata , coming from pure Bengali families, claim to not know Bengali properly. "Ami Bangla bolte parina". Times are such in India that not knowing your mother tongue is not so appalling but not knowing English is a matter of shame. Nobo Borsho is one of those only days when these people learn how to be Roman when in Rome. For one day, the Bongs become Bangali : a homecoming of sorts.

Even if we leave the tyansh gorus aside, we have us, the moddhobityo bangali or the average Bengali who too, consciously or unconsciously , embrace more of foreign languages into our lives apart from our mother tongue. Be it listening to international music all day long, or conversing with your best friend in English mostly : these might be some effects of the globalization that is taking place today. But it is this day ,that we actually make a conscious effort to awaken the bangali in us. It is this day, most of us are in traditional Bengali outfits (girls in sarees and boys in kurtas and dhotis or churidars), try to speak in Bangla for most of the day and try to listen to Rabindrasangeet and other Bengali songs. Selfies in the outfits making it to Facebook Dps is a story for some other day altogether though! *wink*

BENGALI NEW YEAR : THE VIRTUAL REALITY

I distinctly remember as a child how we would visit our elder's houses on this day just to touch their feet to seek blessings or call them up if they were not in town. Although the tradition somewhat still persists in my house but for most, all this has been replaced by social media like WhatsApp and Facebook. A text message, an image , a video or a GIF is all that we send to wish each other. Time saving, true but lacks the personal touch and heartfelt warmth, I feel. But I think this is not just a Naba Barsha problem but a global problem in general ; be it Easter, Christmas or any other festival for that matter .

Whatsapp images that get circulated.

So this is a glimpse or a bird's eye view of the Bengali festival of Poila Baishakh or Naba Barsha. New clothes, new hopes, new resolutions make up this festival , spreading love, joy, harmony in the society. Signing off with the great Tagore's words :