Basanta Baruah
(The writer can be reached at baruahbasanta14@gmail.com)
It's time for Rongali Bihu, the festival of mirth and merriment. Bihu, the national festival of Assam is not only the mirror of Assamese culture but also the lifeline of the Assamese people. All the three Bihus have some special features and uniqueness. It is so special that it flows through the vein of every Assamese. It revives our nationality and binds us with the rope of unity.
Rongali Bihu brings colour and charm not only to nature but also to the minds of every Assamese. One must accept that without Bihu the greater Assamese community as well as Assamese culture is incomplete. It's indeed the lifeline of the Assamese community. But still it seems that of late Bihu has lost its charm and unique importance among the Assamese day by day. It's very upsetting that a large section of Assamese people have no feelings, no emotions for Bihu. If we go to our villages, the picture becomes clear. There is no pre-Rongali thrill in our villages today. The thrilling sounds of dhul, pepa, gogona are rarely found in our villages these days. Performing Huchori or Bihu is becoming an outdated act for a large section of the new generation.
There was a time when the thrilling sound of dhul, taal, pepa brought a pre-Bihu thrill in our villages from the month of Chot. All the villagers assembled and sang huchori. People have some special respect, special importance for huchori. Not many years ago, during Bihu days, it was seen that some local kids performed Huchori in our villages. They spent the whole week singing Huchori in the village. At the end they organized a feast and with the remaining fund collected from huchori, they bought some playing tools. A kind of special unity was developed among the kids through huchori. In the same way, the youths and elders, on the other hand, sang huchori to raise funds for the development of village namghars, schools, libraries etc. At the end they organized a community feast and all the villagers assembled there. These indeed strengthened the rope of unity among the villagers. A homely environment was truly found there. The villagers were seen waiting to welcome their village Huchori. All wanted to have the blessings from the Huchori group on those Bihu days. That's why the village huchori had some special kind of importance.
But today, the picture is completely changed. New generation has no love, no respect for culture and tradition. Instead they are busy with mobile games. They prefer watching videos on youtube instead of performing huchori. Mobile and bike culture have changed the mentality of most of the youths. Today youths are so busy on social media that they have no time for Bihu. In fact, they are interested in outer beauty and materialistic comfort.
It's true that the price rise of essential commodities has compelled the poorer section to stay away from cultural activities. They can't think of anything else except to earn their livelihood. But the section, who can think, pays no heed to culture and tradition. For a large number of this section, all these are a waste of time, nothing more than that.
On the other hand, there are some people who have developed a so-called modern aristocratic mentality of going to watch Bihu in community pendals instead of performing or enjoying Bihu at their own places. A large section of conscious parents even don't allow their children to perform Huchori at their own places. Rather they will go to the towns to enjoy Bihu. It seems that Bihu is no more in the villages. Though there are some Bihu groups in some places, it's seen that most of these groups are organized for commercial purposes.
Today the purchasing power of people is increasing. Crowded markets and shopping malls are vivid examples of this fact. But parents don't buy dhul, pepa etc for their children. Rather they prefer to buy guitar, keyboard etc for their children. It must be said that I am not against these electronic musical instruments. I just want to say that a large number of our people have started to underestimate our local musical instruments which are closely connected to our culture. It's indeed unfortunate and a matter of serious concern.
Our food habits and dressing style have changed to a great extent. Chira, pitha, aakhoi, muri, hurum are not prepared locally in most of the homes today. New generation has no idea about na bhui, na khua, sunga saul, sunga pitha, sewa dia saul etc. Rice is provided free of cost to the below poverty section. So, they pay no heed to the traditional rice cultivation. As there is no cultivation, chira, pitha, muri are missing from our villages. Not only this, some events are also missing from the Assamese society. New generations are attracted to fast food items such as pizza, barger, chowmins etc.
Gamosa is rarely woven in our villages today. It's truly upsetting that gamosa, which is indeed a pride of the Assamese people, which gives a special identity to the Assamese, are brought from outside Assam.
It's often seen that in the name of nationalism, a large section of people show great sentiments. Raising the issue of providing safeguard to the indigenous people of the state, a section becomes leader of some organizations and some political parties. But as soon as they get power, they become selfish and forget everything.
It's seen that most of the Assamese people pay no heed to our local festivals, local musical instruments and local artists. Rather they prefer some other festivals like Durga Puja, Diwali etc. To accept the bright side of others can never be bad. But to forget one's own identity in the name of so-called modernization, can never be an ideal concept. Bihu is indeed the backbone and identity of Assamese culture. Being a so-called modern, if one ignores traditional Bihu or one's root, it's sure that he will lose his own identity. We, the common Assamese, are too emotional. But it's also true that our emotions are very temporary and we are not farsighted. We have been cheated, exploited, divided. All these are possible because we have no unity.
It's time to build the nation and for this, forgetting all the narrow-mindedness we, all the Assamese must be reunited. Bihu is the only medium that can reunite us and bind us with the rope of unity. Let's celebrate Rongali Bihu with great enthusiasm and accelerate the process of nation building.