Bihu-fied in Bagicha Gaon (Bihpuria)

                                                                  

“Oti ke senehor mugare mohura

Tatu koi senehor maku

Tatu koi senehor Bohagor Bihuti

Nanasi keneloi thaku”

                Celebrating Rangali Bihu in Guwahati city has a different taste because here the “Bihutoli culture” is the main attraction, but celebrating the same Bihu in a village has a charm in itself.

             This year I had a chance to celebrate it in Bagicha Gaon of Bihpuria, a small village in Lakimpur district of Assam, where the purest form of Bihu was still existent. For this beautiful experience that I will cherish for my entire lifetime, I should not forget to mention my friend's name Prathana Hazarika who took me for a home stay at her place in Bagicha goan itself.

            We reach there around 7.30 pm & the date was 12th of April, 2012. As soon as I climbed down from the vehicle to her home, I was amazed to see those wide fields, I took a deep breath, even though it was dark, but looking at it made me realize what people are missing at the city. The second most awe striking moment was when I look above, the wide open sky with the stars adoring it was a perfect scene for a fantasy land, the flying jonaki paruwa (fireflies) did the icing in the cake. I loved the wide sky as it was all open to me. I thought of the city & every time I wanted to see the sky, I have to search for it amidst the skyscrapers to relish its beauty. But it was quite different here.

                    I was quite excited for the next day; it was 13th of April “Goru bihu” (The last date of Cheitra month or the day of Sankranti, the first day of Rongali Bihu dedicated to cattle). It was early in the morning where a large number of people ( mostly male) took their cattle for a bath in the river. Usually women don’t go there as the menothrow “Saat” on them & it’s quite painful (Saat is the combination of vegetables that the people throw to their cattle so that they become big, healthy and productive). They throw to each other in playful mood and it is believed that if a person is hit with it than for a full year s/he will live a healthy & illness free life. My friend was reluctant to go, but for my sake, she had to & as a result we were severely hit by it. But it was fun because in return we threw at them too & enjoy the moment .In the meantime the cows were taken by their owner to the river Dikrong &started to wash them with maah-halodhi (black gram and turmeric paste), whipped dighloti (a plant with long leaf), makhioti (a plant with flower-like soft plastic butter-fly) and threw pieces of lau (bottle gourd), bengena (brinjal) & tekera tenga (a kind of sour fruit). I no longer could be a silent spectator and so jumped into the river .I started to wash the cows myself ,threw vegetables on them & sang the songs whole heartedly “Dighloti dighal paat, maakhi marru jaat jaat; lau khaa bengena khaa, bosore bosore bardhi jaa, maare haru baapere horu toi hobi bor bor goru"("with long leaf of dighloti, we kill different types of flies; eat bottle gourd eat brinjal, and grow year by’ year; your mother is small father is small, you’ll be the bigger one”). I washed more than 5 cows & a funny incident followed after that. A pair of cows, one black & the other white was brought in the water, I was not aware that the black cow kicked people. Ignorant of  the fact I was happily washing them, rubbing their skin with maah-halodhi & all of a sudden, the black cow kicked me on my waist. It wasn’t that strong, as the impact of the kick was less inside the water, but the imprint of the kick stayed till 7 days. Had I was kicked above the water I should have been landed in some Govt. hospital there.

                Later the old ropes tied to the necks of the cattle were removed & they were set free to roam anywhere according to their will. In the meantime, I & my friend joined the village girls for a bath in the river. We used maah –halodhi instead of soap, in our home also my mother let us wash ourselves by applying matir-dali in the hair & maah-halodhi in the body in this very day. I made lots of friends while bathing in the river and already recieved an invitation for applying Jetuka (Mehendi) in my hand and for dancing Bihu from tomorrow at people’s courtyard.

              After having a huge full Jolpan (breakfast) we headed towards the Namghor, I took with me a pair of Mekhela –Chaddar, as I knew that it will come handy & it did. In the Naamghor, the village people met, had prasaad & all. After that my friend’s mother (khuri) asked us to collect exho ebidh haak (101 types of vegetables) so that she can make a dish at the very night with those ingredients. It was basically a ritual. It’s was not  so difficult in the village to search different kind of vegetables as it is found in bounty. As the day was about to end, the cattle owners brought their cattle in a ceremonial walk back home .A burning rice barn was placed in the entrance to create smoke and the cows are adorned with garlands with the collection of different kind of leaves along with their new ropes . After they enter home aromatic oils are massaged into the whole body and horn & are feed pitha (Assamese sweets) while they were fanned with handheld fans.

           The whole process was very new to me, although born & brought up in Assam these rituals was foreign to me. I have seen it on Local television but the first hand experience was more wonderful. I was already tired & after having khuri-made delicious dinner I was about to sleep . But Khuri asked me to wait for some time; she made Jetuka paste and apply  it in my hand in such a way that even after I slept it won’t come out. I obeyed her because during Bihu if you don’t apply Jetuka, the whole festival will remain incomplete. It is to be noted that in village people sleep quite early, so we went to bed around 9.30pm, it was followed by a hailstorm which didn’t in fact lasted long. After a  few minutes we heard the sound of Dhol, usually the local boys there, dressed as females visit houses to sing Husori (it is performed by a group of young boys or girls or both) & dance Bihu  .So after performing in other people’s courtyard it was turn of my friends home, they arrived at around 10:50 pm & started to play the Dhol, we had to open the door, they were dancing and merry making & were looking so funny cause some of them were clad as females but was dancing as males. I couldn’t stop myself and danced with them , remember the Jetuka that Khuri applied in my hands  were all off by then .It was one the funniest time of my life . After they went, we slept, but still the sound of Dhol & Peepa was to be heard from far as some were still doing their Akora’s (rehearsals).

             The next day was Manuh bihu (the first day of Vaisakh month), after having Jolpan(traditional breakfast), we visited homes of the neighbors , got invitations for Lunch &in the evening time I was asked to get ready as all the village boys & girls along with children was ready to perform Bihu at people’s courtyard. One thing to note that in Bagicha gaon, each & every household have Kopou ful (orchid flower) tree in their gardens. In there I got to know that Kopou ful have got two variants, one is Mota(male) kopou, used by the male & the other was the Maiki(femalei kopou) that is adorned by the females. I got ready with my dress & jewellery and to complete my entire attire Prathana came with a kopou ful and tied it in my bun. I went with the girls and danced at least in 6 houses, I really enjoyed it. The idea was to form a group & perform from one household to another. We were welcomed to the courtyard by the hosts, after the performance we are thanked with a dakshina of betel nut and areka nut served on a brass dish. If we are not satisfied with the Dakshina, we dance again & the hosts are bound to give us more Dakshina( the dakshina here is in the form of money). With that collectable amount post- Bihu the people arrange a kind of picnic, where they eat together and have fun. I was also desperately invited for that,  but my luck, as my stay there was not that long.

One is bound to observe the children, they were all dressed up with a kopous in their hair, they look so sweet & adorable, even the small boys were ready with their dhol, dhoti , peepa & were so enthusiast to perform. This was the generation next that was ready to take over our culture long after we are gone.

         The next day more fun waited for me. I notice one thing, there was a household where Kopou ful bloomed in large numbers so I asked my friend’s Bordeuta (her father’s elder brother) to take me there so that I can take a look at that and also get some photographs on the way back .He took me in his bicycle & I sat in the carrier, I didn’t knew that the house was so far & as the road was kutcha you can well imagine the condition of my bottom. Finally, we reached the place, we were asked to sit inside & was offered Khaj(local traditional beer) & pithas , thinking it to be rude to deny it, I drank it to the full , later did I know that they had offered me from the bottom of the koloh (which happens to be more thicker &the intensity of intoxication is more ). After some chit-chats, we were about to leave but one thing I need to mention is that the people there are very simple, happy & quite hospitable. I love those people for that very reason. Well on my way back, Bordeuta brought me through different routes for sightseeing. The funny part was, it was mid-noon, the sun was on the top & I was beginning to get Intoxicated (they say after drinking Khaj if you wander in the sun than you are sure to get more intoxicated)but I was able to resist. I reach home, had lunch & after a noon nap, I was feeling well. In the evening we were visited by the elder women of the village who came to perform Bihu in our courtyard, I was amazed to see their enthusiasm, it was really fun, they were joking and having fun among themselves,  we joined them too in their joy too.

It was the last beautiful moment for me for the day, I was  ready for the next day to head home and so the previous night I went to everybody’s home to bid them goodbyes & they in their own way gave me love and gifts as a token of love .But for me their love  & the memories they made with me was  more valuable than gifts. Bidding them goodbye & promising to meet them again, me & my friend headed to Guwahati with heavy hearts.

             I took with me some really beautiful Bihu memories & meeting some really beautiful people with beautiful heart to cherish forever.

Rangali Bihu 2012

Moramee Das

27^th March 2014

                                                                                                                                                                                                             (moramee@gmail.com)