Hearing about Bengali New Year reminds me of old memories. The scent of Bhata flowers, the beauty of golden flowers, the intense heat of the sun, the humming of insects, and the fear of the lotus flower. Seeing the arrival of the Sapureds would have calmed some of the fear. Even though the current generation does not enjoy the taste of acacia, which drips from the acacia tree with a rock, they also celebrate the New Year with great fanfare. That is the truth.
I was born in a upazila town. Father was a school teacher. Subadeh had daily meetings with the upazila or Thananintan police officers. All kinds of cultural activities of the police station were conducted in the school auditorium. The common people of the surrounding villages were involved in all kinds of cultural activities, be it the school’s own cultural activities or the police station level. Villagers who believe in different religions used to come on foot from far away. Everyone was given the same respect.
This should be the infrastructure of a country’s cultural activities! Where there will be no doubts or religious dilemmas. There will be spontaneous participation of all. Even today, Western corporate culture is built on the same theory. Voluntary participation of all employees. Corporate C, E, and R implement it among field level employees.
I started celebrating Bengali New Year since my childhood. I got to know Halkhata while celebrating New Year. I learned to give some gratuity by eating the free sweets given by the owner from the sweet shop in the upazila town from my elder brothers.
Then spent a long time in Dhaka city. Even though I didn’t get the parash of Bhat and Golden flowers, I got to know the native and foreign flowers cultivated by the gardeners. I celebrated New Year with my friends in white Punjabi and pajamas early in the morning at Ramana Botmul. Eating hilsa bhaji and panta on clay plates or eating jhal muridi or sugar nuts from the hawkers was restricted to returning to the hall of the buet.
Many things change in the evolution of time. And yes, change is necessary. It is true that our time is fed in unsanitary conditions. Or Jhal Muri was served by cutting newspaper and making packets. After eating jhal mudri, it was seen that all the printed letters went to our stomach.
Although our generation does not know how dangerous the ink printed on news paper is for health, the current generation knows very well that these inks can cause serious diseases including cancer! Or knowing that clay plates can never be germ free, I would certainly not object to someone using ceramic plates instead of clay plates. No one should be held responsible if someone eats panta on a ceramic plate at Hotel Radisson or Sonargao Hotel without eating hilsa panta at Ramna Botmul early in the morning.
But the culture of a country? How does it change? And yes, if someone wants to change it with scientific reasoning or correct history, it still stands? Is the change universally recognized?
When we used to celebrate New Year in Ramana Botmul, there was a procession with a banner. The banner read, “Ananda Shobhayatra”. Everything has an evolution. But evolution is gradual. Some evolution takes hundreds or thousands of years. But Ananda went from “A” to “M” within a few years? What is the reason? Does anyone know? Let me know if you know. I want to know too. too!
And yes, these days when some see a religious posting, others immediately want to know the exact source. Want to know, hadith number or surah and verse number of Quran. This is the culture of the digital age. People have a right to know.
Where is the origin of the “Mars Procession”, and how original and what is its ultimate meaning? Of course we need to know! If you know, all doubts will be removed. If anyone knows, please share.
