Being Assamese!

I have missed 7 Bihus and now this time it has hit me. I miss my family a lot. They might be a weird bunch but they are mine … I miss mom’s pitha (something which i never liked to eat) which she prepares during Bihu.

I have fond memories of Bihu – I wake up early in the morning and first offer prasad to the Cows (Garu Bihu means Cow Bihu). We rub turmeric and black dal paste on the cows. Turmeric is antispetic and black dal acts as a good exfoliating agent. Next morning we’ll wake up and apply the same paste to ourselves and take bath. Awesome smell of turmeric, dal and mustard oil. And yes, you come out yellow from the bath. Then we wear fresh new clothes and eat the assamese breakfast – pitha (pancake), rice flakes, curd, jaggery, sugar, bananas and other fruits.

My mom will be busy preparing them and feeding all and sundry who comes home. She will put on some bihu dance music in the background. Bihu music is weird man! – there will be heavy drum beating (dhol) in a very off beat rhythmic way like the way we see in grunge music … but then at the time of the climax of the song the drums go hysterical along with the pan chewing drummers… The lyrics are very suggestive … Talking about lyrics – well Assamese people seemed to be more open – My body is burning in desire; Oh my love, if you don’t satiate these dreams my poor heart will break - Got that!

Earlier (read 1960s) Bihu in villages was considered to be an occasion where young men and women meet and decide who their life partners will be. So, the men will assemble near the river and start beating the drums; the women will hurriedly dress up in crisp silk mekhela chaddar with flowers neatly placed on their hair (kind of orchid that blooms in Assam during spring). They become so desperate to be there with their men that they start dancing to the drum beats even before they reach the venue. Hence, if you have noticed the female dancers in performances, they will enter the stage dancing and much later than the male dancers.

Ok now back to my day – we children will be very excited that day – lot of people – known/unknown – will come to our house and our parents will be in a very good mood. We will have a lavish lunch with rice, dal, fish curry – lavish because mom will be very excited preparing it and we get to eat with very generous helpings. After my sisters’ wedding, Bihu became more merrier than ever. All my sisters along with bro-in-laws will land up at home – sudden commotion at home after a great lull ….

After the usual sweet nothings and jokes, we’ll set out to have a tour around the outskirts of the city (which by the way is very very beautiful). More commotion – mom will shout at us to get ready fast, I will shout at the driver to get ready fast, someone will shout at someone to keep the dog in custody, someone else will fight over lipsticks, make-ups and knick knacks … But then the Brady Bunch finally gets together to have some serious fun.

Evening dinner will be mostly outside … with everyone tired. But then we all have to finish our day with the grand finale – Bihu functions and ceremony. There will be 100000 Bihu ceremonies happening in the city simultaneously. We’ll drop by in the most popular ones. When I was a kid – we used to be escorted to the VIP seats owing to my dad’s position in the society. But gradually, VIP seats became unattractive for all of us. I remember faintly sitting on top of the car hood when I was a small kid to watch the bihu dancers. I also remember sleeping a lot. Contrary to other members of the family, I will jump and play around a lot when I was a kid. Hence I used to feel sleepy by 6pm. Thats why I don’t remember Bihu ceremonies of my early days. My mom tells me that she used to buy me a pack of peanuts and I sleep off while chewing them.

Anyways finally we’ll come back home tired at around 1 o’clock.

Lot of people ask me where I am from – My dad is from Gujju origin and my mom is an Assamese. Now I feel that I am more an Assamese than anything else. You don’t need to perform rituals or talk like them – You just need to feel the pinch of missing the culture and the people once in a while to call urself a person from that society. And to top it all, I am as lazy, laid-back, not competitive as any other thoroughbred Assamese…