Feature

Tanvir Ahmed Haroon

New year is a festival in every culture, although we mostly celebrate the 1st of January as the New Year. However, each culture has a New Year of its own. We also have such a New Year; it is called “Pohela Baishak”. The festival this year was celebrated in all its magnificence and glory at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB). The students took part in a series of colorful events to mark the occasion.

The festivities started with a rally that went around the various streets of Baridhara. The boys and girls were wearing colorful Panjabi and sarees with decorations to suite the festival. Placards of colorfully drawn fish and leaves were carried by the procession. Then came the cultural function, with songs, dance and poetry as the core elements. Songs hailing the New Year filled the atmosphere with liveliness and symbolized the friendship and patriotism that the students felt. The students also took part in dance and recitation. All present enjoyed the cultural programme.

Different clubs of IUB put up various stalls, serving food and other antiquities like clay pottery, and other handicraft items. This signified the essence of how famous the rural souvenirs are. “Panta bhat” and other traditional food were also served to mark the event. Some of the best-selling items were gamcha, bandana and bangles. Alpana is also an important part of “Paila Baishak”, and almost all the students decorated themselves in Alpana. Foreign students studying at IUB also took part in the process of drawing alpana on their faces and hands. It was a very pretty site to see the entire IUB campus filled with joy and festivity.

Finally IUB Bangla literature students entered the stage with their short drama titled “Lakshman-er-Shakti Shel ”, written by Sukumar Roy, to add to the festivity. Throughout these elaborate programs, IUBians celebrated and enjoyed the event. The atmosphere was filled with laughter and enjoyment. Pohela Baisakh truly was a new beginning for all.

(Student of IUB)

Megan Marsha Barrokh Edwards

Students of IUB welcomed the Bengali New Year 1414 with a colourful and jovial program. Before the program could begin many students participated in a rally( in which they set out at 6 a.m!). The program at IUB officially began at 9 a.m and ended in the afternoon. The program was held at Campus 1 where students dressed the campus with vivid banners, masks and their smiling faces. The men folk wore panjabis and the women folk wore the traditional red and white salwar kameez or sari. Smiles and laughter filled the air.

The students also took responsiblity to organize games and cater snacks for the special event, not to forget the famous face and hand painting and the most important dish of the day ''Pantha Bhatt and Ellesh with mustard''.

Apart from this,the students also performed drama and songs. Besides IUBians there was also a presence of other nationalities who came to enjoy the festival,

(a Senegalese to be precise) where she commented "It feels good to participate in this festival, I like the colours, I like it all!''.

(Student of IUB)