Editorial
Shubho Nabo Barsha!
The occasion for a renewal of national spirit
THE advent of Pahela Baishakh is yet again a time for celebration, for a renewal of the national spirit as it were. It is so because it is a reminder of the heritage that Bengalis are as a people heir to in this part of the world. It is doubly reassuring to know that Baishakh comes at a time when other people in South Asia as well as in the region just outside it also happen to be welcoming or preparing to welcome their own new year. In other words, when we observe the arrival of the Bangla shaal on the first day of Baishakh, we are in a way identifying with others across a wide swathe of geography of which, naturally, we are an important component.
Where a specific celebration of the Bengali New Year is concerned, there is about it that certain acknowledgement and reminder of the cultural mores and customs which have shaped our responses to the world around us. It is, as we have noted through historical times, that moment when a new haal khata is opened or, in simple terms, a new book of accounts is inaugurated. It is that season when new crops determine the course of new times. That sounds simple enough. And yet within that simple format that shapes a new year comes a host of factors primordial and pre-eminent in the shaping of our social history as a people. Indeed, over the years, Pahela Baishakh has somehow meshed in with our perception of ourselves as a nation with its own political background built upon a distinctive social premise. It is a reality that can be observed through the celebrations that will burst upon the country -- in its villages and towns -- in myriad forms and in a multiplicity of colours. All of these will come encompassed in Baishakhi melas or festivals. Baishakh for Bengalis is a celebration of life through poetry, music and a pure, happy surrender to the heritage forged by their ancestors.
Let Pahela Baishakh this year be one more step in our journey towards individual progress and collective accomplishment. Let it be a renewal of the national soul through imbuing in us thoughts of the well-being of all our fellow citizens. Let the songs we sing this morning translate into a resounding celebration of the country and all that it stands for.
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