Happy Rongali Bihu, Assam, India

Bihu is the heart of Assamese people of India. It is the symbol of Assamese culture and festival. The Assamese celebrate three types of Bihu in a year and Rongali Bihu is celebrated to mark the beginning of the New Year. The new year of Assamese calendar usually falls on April 15 and starts with the month 'Bohag'. This is the reason why Rongali Bihu is also called 'Bohag Bihu'. The word 'Rongali' is derived from 'Rong' which means happiness and celebrations. So this festival represents happiness of the society. On the eve of the new year, i.e., a day before the new year 'Goru Bihu' is celebrated. On this day, the cattle’s are worshiped. On the day of New Year, 'Manuh Bihu' is celebrated. This day is the actual Rongali Bihu day and the celebrations start from the very early morning. There is a very important ritual on this day to gift 'Gamocha'(special towel) or 'Bihuan' to the elders. Every kitchen in the state cook various peetha(sweets) and also tasty 'Jolpan'(food) is served.

When it comes to Assamese culture and society the first thing that comes to any one inside or outside of Assam is nothing but Bihu, to be more specific, Rongali /Bohag Bihu. But there is a vast difference as to how we celebrated Bihu as kids and how our children celebrate it today. But whatever may be the influnces, the basic things will not change.
Bihu to me / us meant :

School : We got a week’s holiday for Bihu. We used to discuss with our friends what we would do, about the social visits and the new dress’s we would get.

At Home / Uruka: We are four siblings and apart from the massive household work ma had to do, and the various competitions she used to take part, she made lot of peetha’s, ladoo’s and various other snacks.

Shopping : We used to wait for ma-deuta(mother-father in Assamese) to return from market with lot of enthusiasm. They would bring a car load of new dresses and shoes for the family, including uncle-aunty, cousins, and grandparents and even for the maids. And not to forget the big bundle of gamochas(towels) or rather “ bihuaans” for the aashirvaad(blessing) ceremony on the day of Bihu.

Goru Bihu : Most of the times we would visit our parents ancestral house at Jorhat,Assam,India. It was real fun there. Mama(Uncle in Asssamese) and others remained busy for the special occasion and we would take active part . The cows were taken down to the ponds for a bath and before bath they were massaged with “maah haldi”. Cut pieces of vegetables like brinjal, snake gourd, bitter gourd, cucumber, etc were offered to them in a bamboo stick. While making them eat, we would sing “lau khaa bengenaa khaa bosore bosore baarhi jaa,maar khoru, baaper khoru toi hobi bor goru." Their old ropes were cut and they were loose free for the day. In the evening when they returned home, they are tied with new ropes “Pogha”. Along with Aita and mami’s we also light oil lamps and incense in the cowsheds to ward off mosquitoes and illness.

Husori : is the indomitable part of Rongali Bihu. As kids I remember we used to make husori group with our friends and visit the locality singing Bihu songs and dancing. Also elders forming husori group came to our house to sing and dance. At the end of the performance ma-deuta ( if in Guwahati) or koka-aita(grand pa n grand mom in Assamese) (if in Jorhat) used to give some money to the group in a "sarai " and we all used to take blessings. The husori performances would go on for the entire month.

Manuh Bihu: Ma could make a paste of maah-halodi for us to smear our body before bath. Then we visit our elders, gift them gamochas and touch their feet and take blessings. Most of the time we had the lunch at “ Aaimoni Jetahai’s (my aunt)" house as she was an excellent cook. Jethai is no more today but the tasty food she made for us still remains fresh in our minds.
To save us from natural calamity we pray to God and on the day of the Bihu write on nahor tree “ Masua Ferrea” leaves
"debo debo mahadebo nilogribo jotadharo
baato bristi horongdebo mahadebo namastute"
and put them on doors and windows.
 Evening we could visit the “bihu toli’s” and also see the various competitions where ma would take part. On the 3rd day of Bihu we eat plain rice mix with water, which we call “ poitaa bhat” and fan ourselves with bamboo handmade fans so that we can bear the hot summer. On the 7th day we make sabzi (dry curry) with seven types of “saak” and eat.

The bihu activities and celebrations which I took part as a kid is missing today. When I think about my daughter MEHR, I feel sad as she will never enjoy the fun I had as a kid. Of course , Bihu still is celebrated today, but a lot has changed.