Bengali New Year Celebrated by Pujari!

By Dr. Panchajanya Paul, MD
Photography by Milan Das

The first day of the Bengali calendar also called Poila Boishakh or Noboborsho is celebrated in the middle of April every year by the Bengali people in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, and in Bangladesh. The Bengali diaspora across the world also gets united on the occasion and organizes a cultural fest to mark the beginning of the Bengali year. For the year 2016- the corresponding Bengali new year of 1423 was celebrated on April, 16th, 2016 at the Birkmar High School, Lilburn Georgia. The event popularly known as Poila Boisakh in Bengali was organized by Pujari Organization of Atlanta. Pujari is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, socio-cultural organization. It was formed in 1986 to foster friendship and understanding between the people of Bengali origin, Indian origin, and the Americans. From the very inception, the organization has enjoyed absolute loyalty and patronage of most of the Bengali families in metropolitan Atlanta and its neighboring states like Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Arkansas. It conducts, coordinates, and promotes the community, cultural and socio-religious activities among the people of Indian origin in the USA and the people of other cultures on behalf of the Bengali community.

The cultural event began at the Birkmar High School auditorium around 6pm. It was an evening of fun, frolic and festivity filled with poetry, song, dance, and drama. Everywhere the traditional greeting for Bengali New Year "Shubhô Nôbobôrsho" which is literally "Happy New Year" could be heard, as people wished and hugged each other. Riyad Ahmed and Sudakshina Mukherjee greeted every one and laid out the road map for the evening. The first event was ‘Bangla Tomay Gaan Kobitay’. It was a program showcasing the beauty and splendor of Bengal through song, poetry and music. Audiences were moved in time and space amongst the blue sky, fertile soil, open air, rice fields, and the hills of Bengal. The nostalgia of erstwhile pristine Bengal was captured rhythmically through the songs by Debasree Dutta, in the poetry of Richa Sarkar, and in keyboard by Neel Chatterjee.

Pic:Maria Martinova, Anima Das, and Sagnika Mukherjee getting ready before the show.

The next was the much awaited Festival of India which showcased the festivals from all across India through their traditional dances. The two hosts for the show Richa Sarkar and Subhasree Nandy deftly described how the unity and diversity of India enriches the culture and bestows us with great arts. The program was divided into four parts corresponding to the four zones of India. It began with the south zone which was directed by Sudakshina Mukherjee. Participants were Arunima, Anushmita Sur, Debopriya Dey, Aparajita, Aditi Chakrabarty, Payal Routh, Sudarshini Mukherjee, Aruna, Kirti, Jyoti, Lavanya, and Roshni. It was followed by duet dances on Holi, Dashera and Janmashtami performed by popular artist Sagnika Mukherjee and Maria Martinova.
Eastern India was showcased by folk song on Bihu style representing Assam – Falgunero Mohnay, followed by a Tagore song- Nil Digante. Participants who danced were Sonia Nandi, Anushmita Sur, Madhubanti, Namita, Aparajita, Payal, Debopriya, Aditi.

Pic : Laavni Dance by Pooja Sen & Baisali Kundu

Next was the Maharashtrian traditional Laavni dance was choreographed by Pooja Sen. She and Boishali Kundu entertained the audiences through their laavni dance on Pinga and Apsara Aili. This was followed by Garba dance from Gujarat where Sagnika Mukherjee, Soniya Nandi, Anima Das, Ananya, Anindita, and Madhubanti danced to the tunes of Nagada Sang Dhol Baje.
The last was the dance on Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, where every participant came for a grand finale- with the cheering crowds encouraging all through. Sagnika and Sonia, the directors of the show thanked all for their support and encouragement to make it a success.

Pic: Sagnika Mukherjee in Garba dance with Sonia, Madhubanti, Anima & Anindita.

Next was Alikhit Lipi directed by Swati Dey. It was the story of Kadambari Devi based on the novel Prothom Aalo by Sunil Ganguly. Tagore has dedicated many of his poems and songs to his sister in law Kadambari Devi. She committed suicide on the eve of Tagore’s marriage. The audience witnessed the story of a woman battling melancholy and solitude through some spirited acting, soulful poetry and melancholic music. There was great narrative performances by Bishwanath Bhattacharyya, Swati Dey, Saibal Sengupta; brilliant singing by Anamika Kundu, Parag Pal, Mahasweta Mailty; and great music played by Byasdev Rana, Ishaan Nandi, and Suraj Samanta.

Pic: Swati, Saibal, Anamika, Parag, Mahasweta, Rana, Bishwantha, Saibal, Ishaan

Next was a program called Surer Dharey Panch Kobi which showcased the legendary works for the 5 great poets of Bengal namely Rabindranath Tagore, Najrul islam, Atul Prasad, Dijendra Lal Roy, and Rajanikanta Sen.It was directed by Sharmeen Omar Ahmed. Participants were Rinta, Riyadh Ahmed, Nasir Ahmed, Prabir Bhattacharyya, Ashit Chatterjee, Mrinal Chakrabarti, Debadrita Goswami, Atrayee Rao, Sukanya Mukherjee.

Pic: Bengali folk dance by Sonia, Anushmita, Aparajita, Arunima, Payel, Sonali

A satirical drama called Chokhe Angul Dada based on Manoj Pitra’s play was performed. It was directed by Manas Dey . The play was made alive through spirited performances by Abhisek Dutta, Byasdev saha, Kinsuk Maitra, Manas Dey and Sushancta saha. It was a hilarious comedy about a paranoid critic who argues with the almighty for a bed in heaved after his untimely death. Viewers thoroughly enjoyed it and vocalized their appreciation through their squeals and laughter.

Pic: Dancers depicting South Indian Arts

This was followed by a break for dinner around 9pm. Bengalis are foodies who enjoy good food, and having a good meal is a must-part of any festival. To cater the food connoisseurs, there were mouthwatering snack stalls which served delicious snacks and a sumptuous dinner containing traditional Bengali food. The end was made special by the guest artist Shayama Mishra who enthralled the audiences well past the midnight through her melodious voice and expressive songs. Over 300 people showed up for the evening, and everyone looked happy at the end. Pujari president Soumya Bhattacharyya thanked and congratulated all for the making the event a grand success.

Dr. Panchajanya Paul, MD, ABIHM, ABPN, is an American Board certified - Child, Adolescent, and Adult psychiatrist. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine. He holds adjunct faculty position at Emory University School of Medicine; University of Georgia & Georgia Regents University, and University of Central Florida School of Medicine. He is a freelance writer who lives in Atlanta.