Impressions
Spring Serenade
Photo: Prabir Das
The country witnessed a lovely display of yellow colour on Pahela Phalgoon the first day of the Bengali month of Phalgoon heralding the arrival of spring. Yellow is the colour of Basanta or spring. The days are getting warmer and the coolness of nights are shorter. There is dryness in the air and drowsiness that inclines people to long for an afternoon nap. The months of Phalgoon and Chaitra are spring in the Bengali calendar- from the middle of February to the middle of April.
Spring is a season of fallen leaves. The trees shed the dried leaves overlaid with dust of the winter. There is beauty in the spectacle when a mild breeze gently sweeps away the fallen leaves. In the early few days of the spring the trees bereft of the leaves look gaunt and ungainly. But soon the green shoots come out and the trees are covered with luxuriant leaves. Spring may witness the arrival of season's first rain and of a nor-wester.
As spring awakens nature, so did it awaken the liberation spirit of the people of this land on Ekushey and on 26 March '71.
Hybrid marigold, dahlia, cosmos and sunflower survive throughout the spring. Photo: Prabir Das
There is great love for spring among the authors, poets and singers of the land. Tagore celebrated spring with his song, "Aha! Aji aye basante koto phool phote….koto pakhi gaey." Oh! in this spring many a flowers bloom…. many a birds sing. Talat Mahmood in his unforgettable love song "Adho raate jodi ghum bhenge jai… batayan khule dio" (in the dead of night if your sleep is broken…dear please open the window)
Unlike the West the change brought by spring in this land is short-lived. With the onset of spring life on the land gets busy. The IRRI Borro is harvested. The water surplus lowland goes for a three month short crop and then readies the land for Aman crop. But the water deficient high land prepares the land for the Aman crop. The winter vegetables, tomatoes, cauliflower, cabbages, radishes, turnips and carrots become cheaper. In the south western region the vegetables even rot in the field and are fed to the cattle.
The mango trees that put out Mukul (flowers) get covered with it in spring. Sofeda (Sapodia) and bel (wood apple) that have already arrived in late winter abounds in spring -so is kulboroi (jujube). Kamranga (star fruit) whose season is from April to October starts arriving in spring. Jamrul (rose apple) will also arrive in April. Farmers grow sweet potato and peanuts on sandy soil during spring. Surprisingly, even tormuj (watermelon) and kanthal (jackfruit) and lichis arrive by the middle of April!
This land associates spring with the cuckoo or kokil. Photo: Prabir Das
The dry season continues in spring so the wetlands, water bodies and waterways dry up further. Shing (stinging catfish), koi (climbing perch), magur (African catfish), shoil (snakehead surreal) and other smaller fishes are easy to catch. Some wetlands and water bodies that dry up before the summer has come, becomes a festival and the children to scoop up the fish with bamboo baskets.
The Hindu community of the land is much known for celebrating thirteen festivals in twelve months. The festival that marks the arrival of spring is Doljatra - the spraying of coloured water similar to Holi in Northern India. For the Bengali Hindus Durga Puja is the greatest festival. Doljatra is not seen these days. Of course the non-Bengali Hindus in Old Dhaka celebrate Shiv-Pārbati Puja. Lord Shiva comes out with his braided locks piled on the head with an artificially made king cobra with bared fangs mounted on his shoulder carrying a triad with a little girl of a Pārbati at his side.
Many of the flowers of winter continue to blossom in spring. The beauty of the red rose in the brilliance of spring sunshine is one of the most fascinating spectacles on earth. Hybrid marigold, dahlia, cosmos and sunflower survive throughout the spring.
This land associates spring with the cuckoo or kokil. It is generally a migrant bird that spends summer in many regions like Europe and South Asia. It winters in Africa. Large species of cuckoos lays eggs in the nests of other birds. The cooing is a mating call.
There was a time when there was pain in spring that in fact started from the middle of winter. It was the scourge of small pox. I remember a time in the mid-sixties - the little compound of our small house had a ramshackle tin shed where lived a village woman who served as domestic worker with her husband that laboured with the pulling cart. They had two children, a boy Pandit and a cherubic little girl Meghula.
In March Meghula was down with small pox. She struggled for her life. The lamp in the tin shed was flickering with the mother sitting at the head of her child trying to relieve the rigours of mortal battle of her child with a hand fan. Meghula struggled for more than a month with spring getting hotter. She survived - unlike her father, luckily the pox marks spared her face. One day she tottered up the steps to our veranda. I have never known a joy like this when I saw Meghula. For me the spring serenade rose to a crescendo as Mozart, Beethoven would have wanted.
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