As the sun sets today, the last day of Choitro, and the last day of 1422, people will eat bitter tasting food. The age-old idea is to negate all the bitterness of the setting year.
Tomorrow, the first day of the New Year, it is customary to eat well, sweet as well as savory, the extent of grandeur depending on the spending power of families.
Everyone wants the New Year to usher in happiness and not face the disappointments and heartbreaks of the previous one.
This time around, as we approached Pohela Boishakh, there has been a concerted drive against the one-day extravaganza of the urban upstart to partake of panta-ilish, as if it is a mandatory ritual of sorts.
The newspapers and the TV channels were awash with stories of the skyrocketing price of the national fish and the illegal catching of jatka, the baby ilish, under 10 inches in length.
I find this effort laudable, as, in the name of “culture,” the frenzy of people in buying ilish, sometimes in various stages of rotting, has only filled the pockets of unscrupulous traders, maybe a tiny bit trickling down to the actual fishermen.
According to some estimates, ilish worth Tk5,000 crores will still be devoured on Pohela.
This demand-driven upsurge in price and the inevitable price-gouging by retailers will mean some people would have felt social pressures to go beyond their means to fulfill a custom that is less than 30 years old.
If the price could have been kept within a reasonable ceiling, I would have had no qualms in people observing this urban ritual. But alas! And the entrepreneurs and farmers who are meeting the demand of protein by farming various species of fish and keeping a steady supply, albeit with prices not always within the reach of the lowest tiers of society, are bearing the brunt of the onslaught of ilish and have gotten poor returns on their investment and labour.
The observance of Pohela Boishakh in rural areas remain unchanged with fairs, where locally produced goods are sold. There are rides for children and various traditional foodstuffs.
However, many customs, like the boat races, horse races, wrestling matches, etc have almost died out. The festival in the urban areas are held in parks and recreational grounds, preferably under the shade of old trees, preferably and auspiciously under banyan trees. But gone are the days of plentiful centuries-old banyans. Have to make do with what’s available.
After the criminal sexual harassment cases last year in the Dhaka University area, the hub of celebrations in Dhaka, the police are enforcing draconian measures this year. No outside programs allowed after 5 pm! This is the period of long summer days and people are more likely to join in outside soirees in the evening but “no-no” say the top police officials. They want to ensure security for all.
I thought the thing to do when the festivities are thwarted -- or attempts are made to thwart -- by some hoodlums is to come out in even greater numbers and drown out the evil designs of the few malcontents. I guess not according to the law enforcers. It begs the question to be asked that how many arrests they have effected after getting footage from all the fracas from the previous year. That question falls on deaf years. So no evening soirees or concerts in open spaces, no wearing of masks, the fanfare not encouraged to be unbridled.
However, a trend that has been set gradually over the last two decades, that of wearing colourful clothes in droves on the new day as the overall income has gone up, has set about a shopping spree.
This is very good for the economy. According to an economist, the market transactions last year on the occasion of Pohela Boishakh were somewhere between Tk20,000cr and Tk30,000cr.
This vibrancy in economic activity triggered by people spending in expectation of a more colourful observance of the Bangla New Year will help producers and retailers, small and big, and many other related small and cottage industries. With the government declaring a New Year bonus for its officials, the spending power of a fraction has gone up even higher.
A country born over 45 years ago, after the brutal nine months of war and the genocide, rape, and displacement of millions, was in dire straits at her inception: The infrastructure non-existent, overpopulation and disease always threatening, poverty an alternate word for existence. But that economy has strengthened over the decades, and we are headed towards becoming a full-fledged middle-income country.
The original 1972 constitution had four basic principles: Secularism, nationalism, democracy, and socialism (meaning economic and social justice for all).
Secularism became a victim after the bloodbath of August 1975 and that principle was not encouraged until a state religion, Islam, the religion of the overwhelming majority, was lodged into the constitution through amendments, 13 years after that fateful August night.
The current regime has pledged to go back to the original essence of the 1972 constitution but has kept the state religion intact. Having a state religion in a secular state is a contradiction, some would say. Well, nothing much can be done about that: A lot of water has flowed under all the Buriganga bridges.
A friend suggested in an article that maybe we are better off having a state religion; it saves the minorities from faux dreams of equal footing in a state that is very much theirs as it is of the Bangalee Muslims. My mind does not want to accept that, but such is reality in the 21st century Bangladesh.
How much democracy do we enjoy, or how just is the social and economic order? The answer is up in the air. But a lot of rabid nationalism is on display when Bangladesh is playing a cricket match, especially against India.
Still, we live in hope and with the setting sun of 1422, and the bitter taste of the food consumed on the last day of the year, we learn to look forward to a bright New Year. Maybe we will end the coming year with the same bitter taste but, for now, I want to rejoice at the coming of Boishakh with song and dance and other festivities.
Wishing you all a Shubho Noborsho: May the coming year begin with soothing showers, showers of relief from the oppressive heat, showers of prosperity in a future, as yet, unknown.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
