If we Bengalis have one special day that we can truly call our own it would have to be Poila Boishak, our very own New Year, gushed Arun Chakraborty, the popular composer of the iconic 1970s folk song Lal Paharir Deshe Ja, (Go back to the land of the red mountains where you belong). The celebrated musician was not only a guest at the Dainik Statesman’s Poila Boishak Special magazine launch party held on the evening of Friday April 12 at Kolkata’s Rotary Sadan auditorium, but he kept audiences enthralled with his charming anecdotes as one of the participants of the panel discussion or adda which was the highpoint of the evening.
The magazine itself of course was the centre of attraction. While Dainik Statesman, the Bengali edition one of India’s oldest English daily, The Statesman, completed twenty years, this was the second year of the Poila Boishak Special. In the foreword, while highlighting the importance of celebrating the Bengali language by commemorating the onset of its calendar year, Vineet Gupta, Director of The Statesman Group wrote, “If there is any instance in history of a language bleeding it was Bengali….when those who fought for its liberation lay down their lives…. in the liberation war of Bangladesh.” He explained that The Statesman (which is inextricably linked with Bengali tradition as the newspaper was headquartered in Calcutta since the beginning) and especially Dainik Statesman is committed to upholding the legacy and heritage of the Bengali language and the special magazine is a token of this commemoration.”
This is one book, if one can take the liberty to say it, can easily be judged by its cover. The celebratory cover, in a burst of spring colours and auspicious symbols, including Lord Ganesh, the god of wealth and wisdom, who is seemingly set to usher in a blessed year, is a reflection of the variety of the contents inside. Flip the pages and you will not be disappointed. There is an assortment of essays, a selection of pointed political analysis and of course delectable choices as far as fiction is concerned including short stories and poems.
There is a surprise for the readers. A special Poila Boishakh gift from none other than West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Who has written a piece for this special edition.
According to Dainik Statesman’s Sunita Das, who co-edited the special magazine, “Though the planning had been going on for a while, the process of compilation, including commissioning stories, editing and proofreading, designing took nearly a month. While it was a fulfilling process, I feel it would get better and better over the years. One of the things I would like to include in the coming years is an astrological column which is always very fascinating for Bengalis.”
The magazine was launched by chief guest, politician and minister, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay and the other guests and panellists. Chattopadhay took off time from his busy pre-election schedule and stayed on from the beginning of the programme to end. In a riveting chat with other guests he reminisced about is childhood and youth. Other speakers at the panel discussion which was moderated by poet Sayyed Hashmat Jalal, included film director and actor, Sudeshna Roy, theatre actor Gautam Haldar, orator Urmimala Basu, Pabitra Sarkar and of course Arun Chakraborty.
In true Poila Boishak spirit, a musical programme by Mohua Sur kept audiences rapt as they listened to Rabindrasangeet and sang along.
It was noted during the discussion that Poila Boishak is a time when the artificial divides that have been created between the east and the west seem to metaphorically merge. Indeed, it must be noted that though debated, the origin of Poila Boishak is traced, at least by a section of historians, to the Mughal emperor Akbar whose endeavour to create harmonious coexistence between the Hindus and Muslims is widely noted. According to these historians, the Bengali calendar was Akbar’s way of fusing the lunar calendar of the Muslin with the solar calendar of the Hindus. The first day of the month of Boishakh followed the last day of the month of Chaitra, when apparently the royal court completed that year’s tax collections and financial transactions. Poila Boishak was a new beginning. The day was marked by celebrations including distribution of sweets by the royal palace and food to the hungry. Indeed no Poila Boishak celebration is complete without a sumptuous meal and the Dainik Statesman event was no exception.
“The spread, especially the ichhor chingri (unripe jackfruit cooked with prawns) is truly a fusion of east and west,” said a guest clearly enjoying the meal. “It is very Poila Boishakh,” she smiled.
In all, it was an evening that held all the promise of ushering in a prosperous new year with a magazine which ought to provide reading material for at least 356 days.