Today was the first day of our Bangla Calendar. This is our own native calendar. It's true that we don't follow this anymore in our daily life. But still, there are thousands who follow this; especially rural people and people related to farm works.
Apart from this, this day is a day of celebration. A celebration of joy, color, happiness, and our broader wellness.
But you can guess what is happening for the last two years because of the pandemic situation. We are locked in our home, we can't celebrate and go outside like we used to. But still, this day adds aq great value to our life!
I'm gonna show you a glimpse of how we used to celebrate this with some of my old captures...
The Institute of Fine Arts - the University of Dhaka is solely responsible for arranging and managing everything for the celebration. The decore the wall, make all the huge colorful maks and figures to welcome Bangla new year. Also, there used to be different cultural programs around the whole country.
I miss these colors. We used to meet all the friends, go out and attend different programs, welcome guests to our home.
These are some photos of our popular food for this day. One of my relatives invite us to attend lunch with them and this was their arrangement.
Hilsha fish, different smashed vegetables with a lot of spices with rice. I really miss this.
And this is the way the student of fine arts used to prepare the huge figures to attend the New Year welcoming rally.
We used to visit there, see their work and preparation, hang out with friends.
Oh, those good old days...
You may say we are going through a pandemic, it's too much to ask celebrating the new year like this. I agree. Or you may say that it's not actually part of our culture but a newly discovered/added thing. It also true. But I really miss seeing all the colors, people's joy, and happiness.
I hope everything will be fine soon and we will celebrate this day like before!
