An article on poila boisakh
Poila Boisakh - a perspective
In this day of detachment, with the phantom menace of secessionist anarchy looming large over every horizon, one really hesitates to pen thoughts about any particular race- it might well be branded as sectarianism! Our sacred duty today seems to become global at any cost, to embrace and be engulfed in a globality which means the World Trade Centre terminators wear American jeans and Japanese watches, illiterate Malaysian grandmothers from interior villages become soft drink addicts and curry from the Indian subcontinent subsists as the national dish of Great Britain.
Still, amid this sponsored onslaught of an epicurean consumerism branded as globality, one single day, that of the New Year, may be reserved for introspection, appraisal, orientation and reactivation of a unique culture- which still has the potential to contribute a lot to the nation and the world,not by submitting itself to misplaced globality but through an ardent preservation of its specialities.A mingled sense of warm exaltation, melancholy nostalgia, impending doom and a drastic exertion to break away into fortune- overpowers us on this day of Poila Boisakh.
Unlike many other parts of the country, Bengal apparently had no ancient tradition of high-end lifestyle or culture. It hardly had any durable temples or classic lineage of music, drama, dance or arts; even in the field of literature and linguistics, the continuum of history wanders into tracelessness too very often.Of course there is the Bishnupur Gharana of music but neither that nor the brick temples or folk cultures establish any really ancient tradition or cultural continuity. Bengal as a place was also extremely rarely mentioned in ancient texts, and the only significant mention in the later versions of the Mahabharata is not a respectable one, as the Pandavas actually avoided Bengal as a rather dangerous and useless place.
That very lack of any ancient tradition or prominent socio-cultural base attributes a great credit to the now-famous "Bengal Renaissance". We wonder in great awe at the endless galaxy of titanic talents and their colossal achievements produced within a span of merely two centuries or even less- we feel wonderstruck to watch the emergence of an all-pervading arousal of a race and a nation out of the darkest clouds of prejudice and backwardness. Except for the glorious duration of Shri Chaitanya Dev, Bengal was, for a long time, enveloped in darkness. It gives us thrills to conjecture the great Bengal awakening- the lion-hearted scholar, reformer and builder of modern India, Rammohan Roy, crossing the prohibited 'kaalapani' to become the first Asian to ride the train, his milestone success in abolishing the 'Suttee'; the visionary industrialist Dwarakanath Tagore launching his pioneering ventures challenging the European monopoly, the very language of Bengal taking birth in the hands of Vidyasagar, being nurtured and embellished by Bankimchandra and fetching the Nobel Prize through Rabindranath within an amazingly short span of seventy years or less. It was a time of a great integral enhancement- the old sluggishness made way to a new order- the educate Bengalee of this age truly represented the best spirit of the new world- eager to learn, enthusiastic to apply, sincere in efforts, honest at heart and idealist in nature. Though it is a historic truth that the establishment of the British capital in Calcutta offered an unprecedented opportunity, credit still goes to Bengal for assimilating the best of the West. The climax of such local excellence had ultimately fetched such remarkable remark-"What Bengal thinks today, India will think tomorrow." The society displayed grand flexibility in allowing both vertical and horizontal mobility for its entrepreneurs, scholars an reformers.
But the decline of Bengal has undoubtedly been even more spectacular. Within a very short span of time, the skyrocketing Bengal extravaganza fell apart from its apex points, rendering the dark night sky with the dazzle of fugitive luminescence and sporadic sparkles heading down to ground as burnt embers of past glory. It is one of the most intriguing riddles of contemporary history and is perhaps too early to be commented upon, but the fading fate of Bengal, without any drastic external influence, is surely a tough proposition for historians.
While we have become accustomed to spend Poila Boisakh with temporary rituals like a puja in the morning, office at noon, and a function followed by a feast in the evening, there ought to be more, much more to this day than the display of decadent derivatives of dance dramas and doses of nostalgia. It is time we recapitulate the potency of the culture and revitalise it towards making a true contribution to nationality and globality.It is to be remembered that a distinct identity for a socio-cultural group is not a hindrance but a passport to true globality. We shall do our globality good to remember a few things- a real Art of Living- synthesising all the best aspects of human civilisation was once available in Bengal, its powerful language still binds the sixth or seventh largest language group together across the difference of religions.It is a thrilling experience to enjoy the National Anthem of Bangladesh resounding through the great halls of the United Nations. The illustrious past of Bengal can still graduate into a bright future.The powerful and sweet Bengali language, Bengal's winning cuisine, combined with healthy commerce and industry, education and culture, packaged in a smart, secular, contemporary approach are hopes of a Bengal Resurrection.
In this day of detachment, with the phantom menace of secessionist anarchy looming large over every horizon, one really hesitates to pen thoughts about any particular race- it might well be branded as sectarianism! Our sacred duty today seems to become global at any cost, to embrace and be engulfed in a globality which means the World Trade Centre terminators wear American jeans and Japanese watches, illiterate Malaysian grandmothers from interior villages become soft drink addicts and curry from the Indian subcontinent subsists as the national dish of Great Britain.
Still, amid this sponsored onslaught of an epicurean consumerism branded as globality, one single day, that of the New Year, may be reserved for introspection, appraisal, orientation and reactivation of a unique culture- which still has the potential to contribute a lot to the nation and the world,not by submitting itself to misplaced globality but through an ardent preservation of its specialities.A mingled sense of warm exaltation, melancholy nostalgia, impending doom and a drastic exertion to break away into fortune- overpowers us on this day of Poila Boisakh.
Unlike many other parts of the country, Bengal apparently had no ancient tradition of high-end lifestyle or culture. It hardly had any durable temples or classic lineage of music, drama, dance or arts; even in the field of literature and linguistics, the continuum of history wanders into tracelessness too very often.Of course there is the Bishnupur Gharana of music but neither that nor the brick temples or folk cultures establish any really ancient tradition or cultural continuity. Bengal as a place was also extremely rarely mentioned in ancient texts, and the only significant mention in the later versions of the Mahabharata is not a respectable one, as the Pandavas actually avoided Bengal as a rather dangerous and useless place.
That very lack of any ancient tradition or prominent socio-cultural base attributes a great credit to the now-famous "Bengal Renaissance". We wonder in great awe at the endless galaxy of titanic talents and their colossal achievements produced within a span of merely two centuries or even less- we feel wonderstruck to watch the emergence of an all-pervading arousal of a race and a nation out of the darkest clouds of prejudice and backwardness. Except for the glorious duration of Shri Chaitanya Dev, Bengal was, for a long time, enveloped in darkness. It gives us thrills to conjecture the great Bengal awakening- the lion-hearted scholar, reformer and builder of modern India, Rammohan Roy, crossing the prohibited 'kaalapani' to become the first Asian to ride the train, his milestone success in abolishing the 'Suttee'; the visionary industrialist Dwarakanath Tagore launching his pioneering ventures challenging the European monopoly, the very language of Bengal taking birth in the hands of Vidyasagar, being nurtured and embellished by Bankimchandra and fetching the Nobel Prize through Rabindranath within an amazingly short span of seventy years or less. It was a time of a great integral enhancement- the old sluggishness made way to a new order- the educate Bengalee of this age truly represented the best spirit of the new world- eager to learn, enthusiastic to apply, sincere in efforts, honest at heart and idealist in nature. Though it is a historic truth that the establishment of the British capital in Calcutta offered an unprecedented opportunity, credit still goes to Bengal for assimilating the best of the West. The climax of such local excellence had ultimately fetched such remarkable remark-"What Bengal thinks today, India will think tomorrow." The society displayed grand flexibility in allowing both vertical and horizontal mobility for its entrepreneurs, scholars an reformers.
But the decline of Bengal has undoubtedly been even more spectacular. Within a very short span of time, the skyrocketing Bengal extravaganza fell apart from its apex points, rendering the dark night sky with the dazzle of fugitive luminescence and sporadic sparkles heading down to ground as burnt embers of past glory. It is one of the most intriguing riddles of contemporary history and is perhaps too early to be commented upon, but the fading fate of Bengal, without any drastic external influence, is surely a tough proposition for historians.
While we have become accustomed to spend Poila Boisakh with temporary rituals like a puja in the morning, office at noon, and a function followed by a feast in the evening, there ought to be more, much more to this day than the display of decadent derivatives of dance dramas and doses of nostalgia. It is time we recapitulate the potency of the culture and revitalise it towards making a true contribution to nationality and globality.It is to be remembered that a distinct identity for a socio-cultural group is not a hindrance but a passport to true globality. We shall do our globality good to remember a few things- a real Art of Living- synthesising all the best aspects of human civilisation was once available in Bengal, its powerful language still binds the sixth or seventh largest language group together across the difference of religions.It is a thrilling experience to enjoy the National Anthem of Bangladesh resounding through the great halls of the United Nations. The illustrious past of Bengal can still graduate into a bright future.The powerful and sweet Bengali language, Bengal's winning cuisine, combined with healthy commerce and industry, education and culture, packaged in a smart, secular, contemporary approach are hopes of a Bengal Resurrection.
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