Esho he Boishakh, Esho Esho - Shubho Naboborsho to ALL!

Esho he Boishakh, Esho Esho 

 Faizul Khan Tanim tries to capture the essence of Pahela Boishakh and our Bengali Psyche

The significance of Pahela Boishakh is immense as this first day of the Bengali New Year and the festival itself marks the beginning of the crop season and thus, Bengalis try to foster bond, friendship and exchange happiness. And we wait for a new year, a prosperous beginning, believing that the Kal Boishakhi Jhor (Nor’wester) will wash away all the negativity and impurities in the air.
Bengalis decorate their houses with colorful papers, masks and especially with colorful paper owls, haat pakha (hand-held paper or taal-pata fans), prodip (oil lamps) and incense sticks are lighted to give the house a good smell.

We urbanites celebrate this event with plenty of colors, especially a contrast-match between white and bright red or maroon. And therefore, beauty becomes an integral part of our happy rallies – Bengali belles clad in their red and white sharis minus the cat fit; it is absolutely lovely to see their charming Baishakhi smile.

And the best smile one will get to see is while they sing…be it at the Ramna Botomul (foot of the Banyan tree where a premium music school Chhayanaut’s students recite songs and poems very early after dawn) or at any other cultural events across the country. The essence of this beautiful smile signifies the capturing of all the bold energy that our poets like Tagore and Nazrul wrote…of Lalon Shaiji’s immortal verses and the absolute green and beauty of our rural Bengal. Now, the perks of these illustrious smirks are that these elements of joy and happiness are what we need to move on and forget our tarnished imageries.

Food on this day is traditional and although we eat them year long but that is very random and hence, the Pahela Boishakh menu is always scintillating. The seasonal fruits, vegetables and fishes occupy our taste palette starting from kacha aam (raw/green mango) and watermelon juices, panta bhaat (fermented white or red rice), most important shutki bhorta (dry fish mash), Ilish Maach (Hilsa fish preferably from Padma river) and plenty of other vegetable mash like potato, potol (pointed gourd), dahl (lentil) and it is absolutely essential that plenty of shorishar tel (mustard oil), onions and a mix of green and dry red chili are used to blend these bhortas/mashes for their tongue tingling taste. A bona fide sweet menu is also necessary as we Bengalis have a tremendous sweet tooth – starting from the muralis (dry sweet – sugar or molasses - sticks) from the Boishakhi Melas up to ordering special batches of shondesh (sweets made of chhana or a form of cottage cheese), gurer payesh, narkel naru (coconut balls) are relished. Sweets are exchanged mostly as a symbol of good omen to usher the New Year in a sweet tone. Sweets distribution is almost the key factor for every other occasions as well but Pahela Boishakh is different – we get to experience different assortments of pithas (both sweet and savory pies) and a lot of these are now decorated and gifted in Bengali weddings to remind us of the sweet and sinful flavors of Bengal.

Dhakaites visits Puran Dhaka (Old Dhaka) to catch a glimpse of the new haal khata (a ledger book) as it is also considered very auspicious to pay off all your debts, loans and dues in this day or before it. This is done because the businessmen open new accounts on Pahela Boishakh. This ritual is also a reminder that one should clear all the debts to start the New Year at a fresh note and hence all the festivity. Boishakhi Mela (Bengali New Year fairs) are grounds or places of congregations to celebrate by dancing, singing and buying toys like traditional clay dolls, earthen potteries, colorful glass bangles up to riding on Nagordola (wonder wheel) or watch fancy boat races…the folk plays, the puppet shows - it seems like the whole Bengali culture melts down in a big pot on the ground of traditional extravaganza, music, food and experience of delightful events. We Bengalis are emotional and we cherish these Bengali New Year celebration memories for a long time.