Boshonto Utsav

Glimpses,small talks, photographs of Boshonto and fond memories, adda that can never be scripted down.

বাতাস ছুটিছে বনময় রে, ফুলের না জানে পরিচয় রে।
তাই বুঝি বারে বারে কুঞ্জের দ্বারে দ্বারে
শুধায়ে ফিরিছে জনে জনে॥

ওরে ভাই, ফাগুন লেগেছে বনে বনে–
ডালে ডালে ফুলে ফুলে পাতায় পাতায় রে,
আড়ালে আড়ালে কোণে কোণে॥

~ কবি গুরু রবিন্দ্রাথ ঠাকুর

বাঁচার ঋতু , প্রানের ঋতু , ভালবাসার ঋতু … ভালো লাগার ঋতু – আমার বসন্ত ঋতু। বাসের জানালা দিয়ে দেখতে পাচ্ছি ফুটপাথের ভিকিরির গায়েও এক মুঠো আবির ঢেলে দিয়েছে কেউ। হাসছে সে, হাসুক। সুর্য তার সমস্ত্য আলো দিয়ে আকাশ সাজিয়েছে। আর সাজিয়েছে বাসন্তিকাকে, যার এক ঝলক রূপে জালিয়ে দিল চোখ। আমার পুড়িয়ে দিল চোখ। আগুন লাগলো মনে মনে। সেই আগুনের আঁচে বস্তি তে ভাত ফুটছে। মা উকুন বাচছে মেয়ের। বসন্ত এখানেও। তাই বুঝি মাতাল বর তা আজকে মদ ছয়েনি। আর সে মদে আকাশ বিভোর করে চাঁদ উঠেছে। বসন্ত এসেছে, আমার বসন্ত।

~ সাম্য কার্ফা

A flash of fiery red; A dash of burnt auburn.
A splash of bright orange.
An explosion of sunburst hues .
I close my eyes. And smile.

Because I see with my closed eyes, the willowy boughs of the palaash tree, as if it stood before me.
Laden with the blessings of bloom, it sways hypnotically in the sweet spring breeze, like a snake sways to the music of a snake charmer’s pipe.
It swoops down and shimmies up with the rhythm of the wind, and it paints red all over its invisible canvas.

A spring in your step ; A smile on your lips.
A sparkle in your eyes.
Colour on your cheeks.
Feel life. Feel alive.
Boshonto. What does it play in your mind?

~ Imon

That slight bitter-clay taste of Abir in your mouth.
That slight crinklyness of your skin that is often the only reminder that you are not who you are for now.
That heady smell, that dusty, earthy, heady smell, which intoxicates even sans the bhaang!
The fingerprints you leave on everything you touch.
You’re afraid to go clean yourself, because that will only get you further painted, because no one is who they are… Yep, it’s holi.

~ Arko Sen

On this day, friendships are made, strengthened and kept. Ushering Spring with the festival of colors at Shantiniketan, it’s something worth your time. When you see those smiling faces, find yourself in the middle of thousands of people singing Rabindra sangeet on a bright sunny day, an unequivocal thought lingers in your mind all day long.. It’s all about love.

~ Aurindam Mukherjee

Life seems a whole lot brighter as small children dressed in sarees of every hue possible took to the stage amidst a hearty burst of the Rabindrasangeet being sung by the choir then…6 to 60, all putting in their contribution to the rainbow of melody which colours the sky. The performances end at around 9:30 and then starts the revelry, students and tourists alike smearing abir on each other, teasing and laughing, The mirth in their voices, mixed together in perfect unison. There seems to be no archness of manners, no unnecessary sophistication attached to the celebrations, everyone bent on enjoying the one day of freedom from their bondage of regularity to the utmost. The air around changes colour as the mood changes, the day getting more exciting as it nears to a close…

~ Achira Dasgupta

..while in the adda, I did not know how to participate. This city bred guy who has spent years trapped in the jungle of concrete and in fear of colours… what would he contribute to, in the discussion ?
It was yesternight when I was sitting by the side of my open window, doing I do not remember what. The music playlist came to an end. The world seemed to have come to stand still. ভিশন দম বন্ধ করা নিশস্তব্ধ।
I hate this feeling of being suffocated. I played the other set of tracks on. আমি তাঁরেই খুঁজে বেড়াই যে রয়ে মনে , আমার মনে, আমার মনে … আমি তাঁরেই খুঁজে বেড়াই। How beautifully Ustad Amjad Ali Khan added to Tagore, how beautifully, he has taken this song to an entirely different dimension.
Dreams …you perhaps can never plan them.
Wishes …you perhaps can never guide them.
Depths of the human heart – you perhaps can never gauge them.
The colours of Shantiniketan’s Boshonto Utsav still fresh in my mind, the full moon with its grace spelling her magic. I closed my eyes,

ও আমার চাঁদের আলো,
ধরা দিয়েছ যে আমার পাতায়ে পাতায়ে ডালে ডালে।
মোর অন্গিনায়ে বাজলো গো, বাজলো সেই সুর আমার প্রানের তালে তালে।

Trance again. Took me away to another world. Its fun, its fun to see how we all deny our hearts at times. ..specially at times, when our nature paints it with its’ colours.. the colours of spring, how true. The colours of change, how true. The welcoming of warmth, how true ! The colours that slowly define us, ..how true.

মুগ্ধ কোকিল মুখর রাত্রি দিন যাপে,
মর্মরিত পল্লবিত সকল বন কাঁপে।
দশ দিশি সুরম্য সুন্দর মধুর হেরি,
দুঃখ হল দূর সব-দৈন্য-অবসানে॥
নিবিড় অন্তরতর বসন্ত এল প্রাণে।
নিবিড় অন্তরতর বসন্ত এল প্রাণে।

Adda friends :

Photographs by Pratyay Mukhopadhyay, JU 3rd year Civil Engineering student. “Like” his page in Facebook.

…and Anirban Saha, umm the host 🙂

Personal note :
It feels incredible to have them in the adda. Aurindam is a JU passout and one of my oldest twitter-made friend. Arko Sen, is perhaps one of the most creative persons I have met. PS : An awesome programmer too! His “About me” is interesting. It reads, ” just an egoistic ill-phisyqued arrogant unattractive weird eccentric narcissistic misanthropic philogynistic nihilistic postmodernistic objectivistic hetero-techno-retro-sapiosexual male.” Haha.
Achira Dasdupta, is not new in this blog. Always bubbly, enthusiastic …and English honours student !
Samya is a person, I befriended very recently. A writer by passion, he already has his writings published at many newspaper. And guess what ? He is doing his masters in Chemistry. When he gets poetic, I make it a point to keep shut. I fear spoiling his sense!
Imon, too is an old friend of mine. Not very frequently do we talk, but when we do, she always make sense. Strict, sensible… and at times I feel, how come she is my friend? 😛 Haha.
Pratyay, by now you know – He is a champ ! It is his photographs that encouraged me to this adda.
And, the omni present Tagore, amidst all of us.