Bihu is Bihu

 

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 way to mark the Asomiya “jatiyo utsab”.

The spirit of Bihu remains intact in our hearts and always will be. Although I am in Kolkata now, whenever I hear the cuckoo singing in the big “Krishno Chura” trees of the Salt Lake area, 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. Pudu Varsham in Tamil Nadu, Baisakhi in Punjab and Nababarsha in West Bengal are nothing but celebrations of Bihu 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….

 

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