DT e-Paper 14 April 2017

Opinion 13
FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2017
DT
Happy new books
Wouldn’t it be nice to get books as a Noboborsho present?
LARGER
THAN LIFE
• Ekram Kabir
Last year, before the Bangla
New Year, my mentor in
many aspects, Matiul Islam
Nowshad, who’s the chief
corporate and people’s officer in
Robi Axiata Limited, had decided
to replace sweets with books as
gifts on the eve of Noboborsho.
So they presented Hajar
Bochhorer Banglaee Shongskriti by
Golam Murshid and Ekattorer
Dinguli by Jahanara Imam to
people.
The stake-holders who received
their gifts were so happy that they
responded in superlative terms.
That was a huge success for my
mentor, and his management has
decided to stick to books when it
comes to Bangla Noboborsho.
Having said that, kindly allow
me to narrate our existing culinary
practices a bit on the occasion
This year, attain greatness through books
MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU
If you throw a keen glance around you, you’ll see an avalanche of
sweets going around every nook and corner of the country. This is
exactly where I would like to promote books
of Pohela Boishakh. Come
Noboborsho, we Bengalis, these
days, get crazy about panta-ilish. I
don’t understand why panta-ilish
has become the symbol of Bangla
Noboborsho.
How many people, who come
to rejoice Noboborsho, have panta
bhaat at their homes as meals? I
don’t think many do.
I remember my mother used to
put water in the surplus rice after
dinner so that the rice wouldn’t
get rotten. Most families didn’t
have refrigerators at that time.
Therefore, the only option was to
put water in the surplus rice so
that someone could have it the
following morning.
Most of the time, the maids
had panta in the morning as their
breakfast.
Years before my mother was
doing it, probably for hundreds
of years before, it was a common
practice across Bengal to preserve
rice by adding water.
It was a sustainable way to not
waste food and to reserve food in a
food-scarce country.
The Bengalis didn’t celebrate
Choitro Shongkranti or Pohela
Boishakh with panta; rather, we
celebrated these two occasions
with our traditional sweets.
With panta, it was a common
practice to preserve the food
overnight and have it in the
following morning. Simple!
To my mind, it’s quite funny
that we have panta once a year and
pretend that we’ve become great
Bengalis. When it comes to hilsa
fish, when did Bengalis celebrate
the advent of Bangla Noboborsho
with this particular fish?
Historically, there wasn’t any
specific species of fish to celebrate
Noboborsho. Apart from that fact,
this is the time when one mustn’t
catch ilish, because if you catch
this fish now, the country will
have a poor production during its
season.
Our prime minister has also
appealed to the countrymen
not to consume this fish on the
occasion of Noboborsho, as there’s
absolutely no link between ilish
and the New Year.
Talking about Noboborsho
celebrations, this has almost
attained the stature of Eid.
These days, people come out of
their homes and truly rejoice; as
preparation for Pohela Boishakh,
people buy all kinds of new clothes
the same way they do during Eids;
the shopping centres and markets
thrive on the eve of New Year’s
Day.
I’m absolutely delighted to see
that we Bengalis now have another
day that we can celebrate with all
positivity and passion. I feel that
our cultural sense has attained the
status of our religious one.
People also exchange sweets
among themselves. Over the last
few years, the trend of distributing
sweets has increased manifold. If
you throw a keen glance around
you, you’ll see an avalanche of
sweets going around every nook
and corner of the country.
This is exactly where I would
like to promote books.
Imagine many of us presenting
books to each other and everyone
is reading those books.
We’d very soon have a
knowledge-based society that
would create an impact on our life.
Giving books on the occasion
of Noboborsho could be one of
the finest displays of our human
qualities.
This would bring back our timetested
values surrounding books
and libraries. I believe publishers
would be able to play a great role
in this regard.
We could start the run up to our
Pohela Boishakh celebrations by
organising book fairs in various
districts or divisional cities. This
would also augment the book
business.
Our writers, on the other
hand, wouldn’t have to wait till
February to publish their work.
The publishing business will also
take a new turn if we can develop
this practice.
I urge Bengalis from all walks
of life to develop this habit during
this time of the year, and attain
greatness through books. •
Ekram Kabir is a fiction writer.