Pahela
Baishakh is one of our festival days. In our Bengali year we celebrate Pahela
Baishakh on the first Baishakh every year. The day is celebrated with
traditional festivities across the country. On this day different types of
people of different social classes come out from their respective residence and
enjoy the carnival enthusiastically and publicly because it is a public
holiday. Traders and shopkeepers open halkhata (fresh account books) and
offer sweets to their customers and clients with a view to satisfying them
keeping the age-old tradition. Children, young, adults, aged ----- all people
of both male and female look forward to celebrating this day with great hope
and aspiration. At the very dawn they go outside to celebrate Pahela Baishakh
eating panta vath. Most of the girls adorn themselves wearing fresh
dress and flowers in their locks. Young and adult boys like to sing with the
traditional musical instruments like ektara, dotara,
bamboo-flute, sarinda etc. and somebody likes to wear mask of different
things. Different socio-cultural organizations draw up elaborate programmes to
celebrate Pahela Baishakh. The day's first programme begins at dawn at Ramna
Batamul where Chhayanat, a leading cultural organization, organizes it. Bangla Academy,
Shilpakala Academy,
Bulbul Lalitakala
Academy, Jatiya Press Club, Liberation
WarMuseum, Bangladesh
National Museum,
Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University and many other organizations bring
out colorful processions with festoons, placards, posters, banners, masks etc. Bangladesh
Bater, BTV, ETV telecast different lively programmes describing and showing the
festival activities of Pahela Baishakh. We can't but memories this day with
great pleasure every year singing together.