What makes us Bengali

The intoxicating smell from the jasmine garland wrapped around my mother’s hair, her draping red-and-white sari -- these are the things that remind me of Pohela Boishakh. Then comes the delicious panta bhaat and ilish maach, next the harmonious Tagore songs and folk music. Every Boishakh, I fall in love with the rich Bengali culture. I fall in love with its diversity and with its vivacious ways of celebration. Culture preserves knowledge and helps transmit it from generation to generation. Culture unites the people of a country. Culture implements good values and attitudes, and the Bengali culture has always been successful in doing so. Bengali culture has been influenced by many periods in history. The Mughal Era, the Bengal Renaissance during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and most recently, the Western media, all took part in shaping the magnanimous culture we have today. All of it is still manifested today in various forms of music, dance, drama, arts and crafts, folklore and folktale, languages and literature, philosophy and religion, festivals and celebrations and, not to be forgotten, a distinct cuisine and culinary tradition. There were, and still are, many artists who have helped us fall in love with the culture again and again through their work. The most famous among them being Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Lalon Shah, Hason Raja, and many others. Some 90% of the population in Bangladesh is Muslim, so, inevitably, the Islamic festival of Eid is a major festival in Bangladesh. Before Eid-ul-Fitr comes the month of Ramadan, when street food reigns supreme, starting from the deep-fried peyaju-beguni to the mouth-watering jilapis -- you find yourself in street-food heaven. Then comes the Eid day, more like the pocket re-filling day for us young ones, as, by tradition, elders give us small amounts of money as blessings. Thousands gather in the Idgah Maath to perform their Eid prayers. Happiness spreads as people embrace and wish each other Eid Mubarak, while at home awaits yummy sweets and the special Eid programs on television. Before Eid-ul-Adha, the gorur haats are all set for buyers to buy domestic animals such as cows, goats, or for some lavish people, camels as well! On Eid day, the animals get sacrificed and the meat is distributed among relatives and the poor, while some are kept for the households. As per West Bengali culture, in Bangladesh, the biggest Hindu celebration is Durga Puja. Beautiful sculptures of Durga are made by local sculptors. The lively celebrations last for 10 days and delicious sweets such as narus are made. However, apart from the religious ones, Bangladesh has other festivals too. The Bengali New Year, Pohela Boishakh, with all its cheerfulness, comes in the month of April. Huge parades and fairs are arranged. Everywhere you look you can see colourful masks, locally-made handicrafts, and multi-coloured clothing. Schools and other cultural institutions arrange programs, which include Bengali dance, music, poetry, and drama. On International Mother Language Day, many gather in front of the Shaheed Minar, and the thousand replicas of it around the country, with flowers to pay their respect to our mother tongue and the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for it. You see, we love our language very much, and we are the only country that has fought for their mother language. Wedding bells ring all over Bangladesh during winter. It’s not just one ceremony that we usually get to attend, we have four or five at least. Apart from the day of the actual wedding, the most awaited event is gaye holud. Turmeric paste is smeared on the bride and groom and small Bengali delights are fed to attendants by relatives. A popular notion is that the bride and groom's families present small dancing and singing performances for the guests. On her wedding day, the bride dresses up in red or similar hues. The architecture of the historical monuments in Bangladesh are mostly influenced from the Mughal Era. But in recent times, many new modern buildings are designed in simple, minimalistic styles. In villages, we see houses usually made from mud or tin in very simplistic manners. Our cricket-loving nation boasts an excellent cricket team, whom we lovingly refer to as the Tigers. It is not unusual to find many people gathered in front of electronics stores watching a cricket match like they have nothing else to do. Apart from cricket, Bangladeshis love to play nouka baich and kabaddi, our national sport. Let’s talk about food -- we Bangladeshis love steamed rice and fish cooked in various ways, thus comes the saying “machhe bhaate Bangali.” We like it spicy too, so lots of herbs and spices are a must when preparing a dish. However, an assortment of sweets can be delightful once in a while so we have roshgollas, chom choms, kalojams and many others. As for clothing, men wear lungis, punjabis, or formal clothes. Women, on the other hand, love wearing saris and kameezes made from cotton, jamdani, Benarosi, etc. Some fashion houses are trying to make Western clothing using Bangladeshi fabrics to bring that Bengali vibe into their non-Benglai outfits. Bangladeshis are quite diverse in nature, and thus, we cannot be stereotyped. Our culture is vibrant and unique. It is impossible not to fall in love with it.