Pahela Baishakh, my way

I am not very respectful of traditions but I do often end up rallying for them. As someone who has never participated in Baisakh festivities I am probably unmoved by calls to hold aloft the banner of national cultures. Both people and cultures change so maybe we could become a little flexible. For example, the whole business of Probhat Pherry — dawn activities — sends me chills. I don't want to wake up at some ungodly hour to celebrate anything including my or my race's birthday. That should always be in the evenings so that we are all probably more aware of what is going on. Otherwise it becomes more of a tradition of sleep denial and we know that less sleep is bad for health and can even lead to obesity.

So as a kind gesture to all could we have Shandhyo Pherry instead?

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Cultural traditions change and switch and what was passé becomes the new tradition. So there is a huge rush to wear Punjabi-pajama. But wait, should we call it that, that name (Punjabi) honouring those who ruled and repressed us for so many years as our hyper-nationalists say. So shouldn't we find our own identity and call it Bangalee-Pajama in honour of our nationalist movement and independence. Shouldn't we?

Or even better that stab at creative fashion and mix fatuwa and punjabi and come up with 'fatunji'? But it sounds more like a mix between fatuwa and genjee, doesn't it? No matter, we shall probably soon have a fusion between shorts and pajama and come up with paja-shorts!

As long as we are wearing something!

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In Bangladesh part of the roots of this public celebration of Baishakh lies in the Bengali nationalist movement which the Pakistanis opposed. So people felt that this was a great tradition around which both the cultural heritage could be recovered and the political strength discovered. History shows that this exploration proved positive.

But in this age and time of our history how should we reconstruct it for today. Will the BNP say that we should stop celebrating because it was established by Akbar who is an Indian monarch and India never gave us water?

Or will the AL say that it was Sheikh Mujib who initiated the festival and we should observe it to show our solidarity against the BNP?

Traditions generally thrive when there is a political content and ours did but our politics itself is toxic and that makes following such traditions without any social purpose also difficult to continue. In isolation the Baishakh holds less attraction for the new generations as they search for roots that mean something more than a social event.

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But new cultures have emerged already and it's just that we don't always read them. The Ramna event will be over-crowded insanely. As someone remarked, "People even from Mugdapara will be there!" In the urban imagination, nothing is far away from the outskirts of the main city.

From within Dhaka there will be several locations. For example, for those who have studied at the Jahangirnagar University, the mela there will attract many. "The atmosphere is so beautiful there, so sylvan with trees and shades and less crowded. There will be many kinds of delicacies like mangoes, pineapples, guava and other fruits mixed with mustard and other stuff. It's very nice."

Some are running away from the city itself as tickets are booked to go away from Dhaka. Some are off to Sylhet, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and other long distance destinations while those with less disposable time think of resorts and slightly far away places.

For the well off who live in Dhaka's expensive suburbs, they will retreat back to the air-conditioned shells and pursue liquor, the ultimate lubricant of festivities. It's worth wondering what the cultural shape of the fantasies that such alcohol binges generate.

But narcotics will be there whether it's ganja, alcohol or some more stern stuff. And it will cut across classes as even some members of the middle-class resort to bio-chemically induced pleasures even on their less robust incomes.

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And it's all in such doings that new traditions are being built and developed. The reasons why Baisakhi began are located in economic culture of harvesting and taxations. Over time they have become closer to social cultures and even faith issues. For the Sikhs, Baisakhi is both a social and religious event and there are many such varied narratives for many people. It's an evolving matter, this culture and as long as we remember that nothing is static hence fundamental, we can enjoy everything.

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And one should take everything a little lightly, with a pinch of salt and lot of giggles and a touch of laughter. For example, my feeling is that the Baishakhi tradition is not strong because we don't follow the tradition completely which is why we have cultural problems.

While we do try to follow the rural tradition which is like looking for our roots we do wear Pajama-Punjabi, we do go to Ramna and listen to Tagore music, we do sit down and have panta and ilish but we forget to carry out the most important part of the tradition. We don't take a lota and go to the math and defecate-hagu– like our ancestors did every Baishakh. It needs to be revived.

Shubho Naba Barsha!

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Afsan Chowdhury is the Executive Editor of bdnews24.com.