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15.01.2013
14th
of January. Magh bihu in Assam. We call it Bhogali Bihu. The festival of
pithas larus, doi and sira. The festival for which all - be that old,
young or children wait eagerly to have lots of fun and food. Its really a
festival for families and friends to come together and enjoy.
But.... how many of you agree that we
still celebrate Bihu with the same spirit? As I go to my office every
morning through Ganeshguri I see numerous stalls there selling readymade
pithas and larus since last one week. No doubt this is really helping the
people, especially the ladies who can't give much time to their kitchen
may be because they are working or for any other reason. I must here
admit that even I belong to that group who went out to buy the readymade
stuff as its an easy way out.
But when I go back to my childhood days, I still remember how my mom used
to sit for hours in the kitchen on the day of uruka making variety of
sweet dishes. I used to sit by her side gazing at her and thats how I
have learnt making some of those items. And I think its the same with all
of you. But now as everything is so easily available in the market
we hardly find those moments at our homes. Do we ever think that we
are missing out the real spirit of the festival? Previously, we used to
go to our neighbours' places or called them to taste the home made
pithas and larus. But now what are we going to serve people? Those bought
from the market? May be our guest has also brought the same stuff from
the same shop. And because of this we hardly invite anyone to our home.
And consequently the emotional bond which we used to see in our
neighbourhood some years back when we were small is slowly
vanishing away..
Festivals were always the most wonderful means to mingle with people.
But, now most of us are losing this spirit. The shopkeepers
sitting in the stalls are selling our emotions, our traditions and making
money out of it. And we just to get rid of the messed up kitchen(as
we all know making pithas etc really turns the kitchen into a mess) and
saving our time to go to parks, movies and pubs and later on
uploading those pictures on social networks let them do that. We
socialize a lot on facebook, have numerous friends some of whom we
haven’t ever met. A long friend list. But, its really sad that we hardly
know who stays to our next door
Sitting
around the bonfire on the night of uruka with all the family members and
friends was really the best way to be in touch with them. The gossips,
the jokes as well as some of the important discussions that our elders
used to have sitting there really helped in maintaining strong relation
with all. But now what I experienced personally staying in the city life,
there is no such celebration or get together. People rather prefer to go
out to restaurents for dinner or sit in front of the TV and spend time.
I do really feel that we must hold tightly to the traditions which our
parents have passed onto us . Otherwise we will have nothing to give to the
next generation- our children.
This is totally my personal opinion. But I know
somewhere I am true and therefore I think that its time to change
ourselves. Lets not make a business out of our heritage- traditions and
festivals. They are meant for learning a lot of our culture as
well as coming close to those people who stay near us but we hardly
bother to have a look at them or know about them.
Happy
Bihu to all!
Jan. 15, 2013
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