Bihus

Magh Bihu Bhogali 2011

I am writing this blog with a smile on my face. I hope everyone who reads this blog feels the same joy while reliving the moments I am going to share here. I felt happiness and a great sense of belonging while celebrating Magh Bihu in Kolkata this year. Till the morning of Uruka day, the members of Sristir Ramdhenu had no plan of celebrating Magh Bihu.

There were many hurdles to cross in the form of finding a place in Kolkata for bon fire, contacting all the members which meant uncountable phone calls, collecting money and so on. Since everyone is having full time jobs to attend to, it leaves them with very little time to think of anything else. However, on the evening of Uruka the Assamese spirit came in and the boys a.k.a. the most active members of the group decided to make Bhogali Bihu happen – no matter what.

Unlike other past events, where I participated actively, I couldn’t do the same this time, as I had to attend to some medical issue in the family. However, when the boys (Bhaskar, Uddipta, Hemanta and of course Proloy) contacted me, I was free enough to take part in it. Hence, I jumped in the organisation of the celebration too. We were in it together and we wanted to make the best out of this celebration. All the social networking sites were updated, members were called sms-ed and contacted.

The spirit of Magh Bihu was poking everyone to do something about it and hence, everybody said YES to the celebration. We all had smiles on our faces. :) We will have Magh Bihu feast on the day of Magh Bihu, though not on the Day of Uruka, as it should have been. But we all know that a few hours delay hardly matters when there is so much of positivity involved.

Now, Proloy took the highest initiative by arranging for a place for bonfire and feast. It was a walled open space in the front yard of a school. Till late night of the Uruka day, we were on conference calls on and off discussing, making lists of to dos and how to dos and so on.

Next day, the day of Bihu, Uddipta called and asked “who would cook?” Bhaskar said the boys can do it themselves. But I knew nobody had the experience of cooking for so many people at one go. We were 35 people and there were several items on the menu. Hence Uddipta and me decided to hire a cook. I started calling my contacts in Kolkata and luckily found a cook in such a short notice! Another hurdle crossed. Two of the worker bees (read Bhaskar and Uddipta) went veggie shopping. I attended home chores. In between, calls, con calls and guests kept me busy. I offered to sponsor one of the must-haves/must eats of Magh Bihu, the Kaath alu.