Rongali Bihu celebrations in Delhi
It was merriment time for the Assamese community in the capital who swayed to the reverberating tunes of bihu songs and dance at a mega celebration here. The venue of this year’s main Bihu by the Assam Association, Delhi was Lal Chowk, Pragati Maidan. Far from home but not far away from the homeland spirit, a large crowd of around 3000 people thronged the celebrations organized on Sunday evening.
The affluence and abundant endowment of nature in the Assam valley during this time of the year is rightly reflected in the spirit of Rongali Bihu, celebrated in the first Assamese month of Bohag.
At the celebrations, Assamese child, youth and old, from neighbouring satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Noida apart from Delhi poured in. 'The gathering is really overwhelming. I am happy to be associated with Assamese people on this great occasion' Mr Jayant Kastuar,Secretary Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Chief guest, spoke on the occasion. There were other guests of honour like Mr N M Bora,CMD, OIL; Mr. H S Brahma, IAS, Secretary to GOI, Dr Atul Sarma, Member 13th Finance Commission, who graced the occasion. Dr Sarma released the ‘Samayik’- magazine of the Association.
Bihu team with Ms Sanghamitra Ghosh, Principal of the primary section of Mother's International School, Delhi
The crowd went into raptures when a group of youngsters presented husori, or Bihu carols, accompanied by musical instruments like dhol (drum), taal (brass cymbal) and mohor xingor pepa (buffalo horn pipe), gogona (Jew’s harper). It was followed by some mood lifting popular numbers by guest artist young Ms Abhishruti Bezbaruah. Bihu dance by a bevy of Delhi bred small children mesmerized the crowd soon after, hinting continuance of the vibrant Assamese cultural life in the busy capital city.
Star attraction of the evening was noted Assamese playback singer Mr Dwipen Barooah, who sang more than 350 film songs for Assamese films. Mr Barooah sang for more than 1 hour, and kept the audience spellbound with evergreen Assamese numbers.
Bihu performance at the Mother's International School, Delhi
A team sent by Culture Department of Assam Government performed bihu towards the end and lifted the mood. 'This is an amazing period for us Assamese. It is simply enjoyment right now and nothing else' said Ms Bina Saikia, a professional who hails from Dibrugarh and is employed with an IT firm at Gurgaon. The finale came with 'mukoli Bihu' when every one danced together once again celebrating the New Year spirit, but in a free for all mode.
The bihu team was taken on next day to the Mother’s International School for a performance before the Primary section students. The aim is to propagate Assamese culture among young people. The team also performed at ‘Disang Club’ of Oil India Ltd, apart from doing a recording for Doordarshan.