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Our cultural heritage

Amanai Ahmed
WITH ihe new sun shining with its radiance and vivacity, we, the Bangalis, are celebrating ourl4l5th New Year today. Another Pahela Baishakh (first day of the month of Baishakh) brings out another spectrum of hope and possibilities assailing over the darkness of despair and glumness.
Each and every year we ceremoniously welcome the advent of the new year as soon as the new sun comes up with its cheerful brightness. We welcome new year with song Esho he Baishakh, Esho, Esho ’’ echoing
throughout the country. Truly, this has been a cultural extravaganza for the Bangalis from all walks of life.
This very ceremoniousness marks the spirit of Bangalis as a nation. On this day we express our pride in many ways of being Bangaii. The whole world bears the witness of the sparkle of Bangaii life. This festive look has been a testimony of the vibrant nature of Bangaii culture. Various cultural programmes organised by different socio-cultural- academic organisations give expression to our true identity.
But do we still possess the same level of cultural wealth that we used to have before? Haven't we diverted a long way from our originality? Does pretending to be Bangaii on a few selective days really show the true Bangaii spirit? Whatever may be the answers of these questions, the unprecedented shift from our original culture to a culture mixed with global influence is pretty much evident.
Let us come to the language aspect first. Not many below thirty years are actually able to speak using perfectly pronounced Bangla words. We even see a new Bangla accent developing that mimics the English pronunciation. Mixing Bangla with English in our conversation is a common phenomenon. These people are unable to speak fluently either in Banglaor English.
I believe that in order to compete in this global community, we must learn English language properly. But at the same time we must not forget our own language the language for which people did not hesitate to sacrifice their most precious lives. Many can say that there is another variety adding to the list. However, it is for the scholars and researchers to decide whether replacing the standard Bangla with Bangla/English Mixture is justifiable or not.
Food has been an integral part of our culture. From hospitality to diplomacy, food has its mark. Speaking about food, I still can remember the variety of rice cakes my maternal grandmother used to prepare. Splendid in taste is a justification that I must give. She used to send cakes to our house. Paatishapta is still my most favorite one.
My mother is a person who
is known in the family and friend circle as the one with a magic recipe of the milk food items. Her items, such as payesh (made of rice, milk and sugar), kheer (rice, milk and molasses), halua (a kind of sweet-meat made of melted butter, sugar, suji, daal, egg, carrot etc) are our all time favorites. Whenever mother prepares these food items I always remain to be the first person to taste and devour most of it.
In the village and suburban communities women still make traditional rice cakes and other food items. But in the urban areas, especially in the metropolitan cities, where people are more busy, they hardly find time to prepare these traditional delicacies at home. But that does not mean you don’t at all
get these items in the cities and towns. Go to a large shop and you will find patishapta, p h o o 1 p i t h a, moa, n a r u, kodma, batasha, dudhkodu, gajorer halua and so on. But what is missing here is the ceremonial aspect of making these items at home. Something readily available cannot taste as good as one for which you have to wait half a day.
On the Bangla New Year's day Bangalis usually have khichuri (a food item made of rice and pulses together) at home. When I was in Mirzapur Cadet College, we were served chiraa (beaten rice) with yogurt during breakfast as a special menu. In the Cadet College we used to celebrate the New Year's day by publishing Bangla Wall Paper and organising a cultural
programme. I have been enjoying the Bangla New Year festivity in Dhaka University since I joined there as a student.
These days, I see people on the New Year's day, eat pantabhaat (rice soaked in lots of water; with hilsha fish because they feel it as the tradition. Maybe a lot of people do not see a point in it but no doubt it has become popular. But my question is, if we cannot internalise the true Bangaii spirit, we should not do such things for a day and forget all about it for the rest of the year.
Fusion of our original songs with that of western templates is not new for us. It is not a bad idea as it is getting good response from the target audience. But in this way aren't we killing the originality
of our music? I have no problems with rock music as it is adding a new dimension. I am concerned that our original music does not become extinct. This also goes for our other cultural aspects.
On two occasions I feel missing Bangaii spirit within the environment surrounding me. One is Pahela Falgun (first day of spring; on 13th February) and another is Pahela Baishakh (first day of the new year; on 14 April). The rest of the days of the year we pass our lives as usual. In that case, are we Bangalis for only two days?
Traditionally we have a very rich and diverse culture. But cultural dynamism and globalisation have been contributing to a continuous shift within our culture. This obvious shift has been
depleting the richness of our cultural legacy. Change is good, but not at the cost of the original. Qur culture is. changing, it is shifting from its traditional focal point. Whether this phenomenon signifies the setting of a sun or the rising of a new star, can be found with the passing of time. It is up to us now to decide how to preserve our traditional culture. It is the root and the rest are the branches and other body parts of the tree. Can a tree live without its root?
I wish all of you enjoy happy and prosperous times ahead.
The writer is the 9th batch student of the Department of Accounting & Information Systems, DU.