The Essence of Magh Bihu

India is the land of festivals. With its rich tapestry of cultures and festivities, probably no other region justifies this as well as our very own north east. Each season brings in with it some or other festival that spices up the lives of the people in this corner of Incredible India. After being soaked in the festive spirit of the English New Year we hardly have a moment’s rest when Bhogali Bihu arrives -- with promises to drench us in its flavours and delights. Bhogali or Magh Bihu is indeed a festival of fasting and feasting. In many places, people fast on the day before uruka (the first day of Bhogali Bihu). For the next two days—there is a succession of feasting and merry making. The term ‘bhogali’ traces its origin to ‘bhoga’ which means eating/enjoyment. In the Assamese consciousness Bhogali Bihu is associated with the pounding dheki , the buzz of activities in the household, the aroma of fried and baked delicacies, the frequent trips to the bazaar—and most importantly, the community feast on the uruka and the meji or the bhelaghar. Today however most of these experiences linger more in our memories and in the aromas that waft the air...

In those days of our childhood and youth, Bhogali Bihu had meant a flurry of activity in every household. It was a time, when an entire locality would get together to shop, cook, and eat as one family. Bhogali Bihu in fact reminds us at once of the urukar bhoj i.e. the community feast on uruka. The morning after, people would gather around the meji to make offerings of ‘til’ (sesame), rice and other eatables to ‘Agni’-the God of fire. Also, ashes of the burnt mejis would be scattered over the fields; for it was believed to increase the fertility of the soil. These traditions are sadly, dying a slow death.
Although the flurry of activity associated with Bihu is there even today (yet) the contours have changed. With increasing urbanization and consequently, sparse land space, the bhelaghar or the meji are almost passé. Buffalo fights, egg fights and other traditional entertainments are virtually unknown to the new age Asomiya. With a plethora of malls and shopping arcades, and easy availability of most commodities, the dheki and the taat xaal (loom) have but vanished from peoples homes. Bihu today is a season of shopping for the latest designer tees and kurtis. From the pithas to the laddoos to most other delicacies that we offer our guests during Bhogali Bihu come straight from the supermarket next door. Our children, today show greater inclination towards the pastry than the pitha. With the so-called fast life invading our socio-domestic spheres, people are isolated like never before. Though people do get together for a meal beside a warm fire in farmhouses and open fields, (sadly) these often deteriorate into one and another form of alcohol-drenched late-night parties.

In view of all this--Bhogali Bihu today is generally deemed to be a shadow of its past.

Yet-not all is lost in this land of the Red River...

The biggest strength of the Assamese community is that its national festival Bihu is not a religious but an essentially agricultural festival that has the entire Assamese community participating in it—irrespective of religious, ethnic, caste and linguistic identities. On the night of uruka all kinds of barriers are wiped out when men eat out of the same pan. This community feast is in itself a symbol of unity; it stands for the brotherhood and harmony that continual ethnic strife has eroded considerably from the composite Assamese society. On the day of the Bihu, people visit one another’s families offering good wishes and seeking blessings from elders. In our isolated modern lives, such opportunities help us to mend and forge bridges between hearts. The fire of the meji purifies and purges all vices.

Viewed from another perspective, availability of the different pithas, laddoos etc. in the market has enabled the traditional delicacies to sustain in the face of the newer tides in tastes of the people, especially the younger lot. This has also enabled numerous groups and individuals to eke out a living. In a state ravaged by insurgency and where unemployment is rampant, such avenues offer young men and women an opportunity to earn an honest living. The success and popularity of Pre-Bhogali Utsav and other such festivals at the Nedfi-Haat and the Sankardev Kalakshetra among others attests to this.
The famed Bihu dance—is restricted to the bihu VCDs that throng the market at the advent of each Bihu season. Though much of the output is well below par, yet these have at least managed to keep the folk culture of Assam alive and vibrant in the hearts and minds of its people.

An encouraging trend is the celebration of Bihu—especially Magh Bihu and Rongali Bihu by the Non-Resident Assamese in other parts of India a well as abroad. Magh Bihu celebrations in places as diverse as Singapore, Dubai, Qatar and United States of America have become annual affairs.

Thus, in spite of the myriad changes that has come over with the passage of time, Bihu continues to live in our minds and hearts; and in the nooks and crannies of the numerous towns and hamlets beside the Brahmaputra and its tributaries... As the sun turns warmer on our backs, and aromas begin to tickle our taste buds, we brace ourselves to welcome this festival of Food into our lives.

Happy feasting to all!!


(Published in ‘melange’-The Sentinel on 11th January, 2009)