Nothing can dampen the spirits of Charukola students
Eid-ul-Fitr may be less than two weeks away but the convivial vibe has already arrived at the Department of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka. "The festivities of Pahela Baishakh are no less than Eid for us," explained Shangramy Mohonussash, a final year student of the Department of Crafts, as he cut through bright yellow papers for adorning the majestic structures being prepared for the annual Mangal Shobhajatra tomorrow.
Charukola, the hub of arts and crafts, is busy as ever on the last day of preparations for the Bengali new year 1430. With artworks and masks being sold at the entry, and students from different batches immersed in painting, every corner of the expanse is gilded with vibrant colours. In the matter of the next few hours, the colossal structures of this year's procession will get engulfed in bright hues. Have the recent legal notice and the hate against the celebrations faded some of the colours though?
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Fahima Farzana, a student of the organizing batch of Charukola this year, said, "There will always be negativity and newer issues every year but we can't let that dampen our spirits for celebrating something that has been certified by UNESCO."
Owing to reasons concerning the term Mangal indicating religious connotations and the motifs hurting religious sentiments, a legal notice was sent by Supreme court lawyer Md Mahmudul Hasan, stirring up a debate amongst the populace against the festivities of Pahela Baishakh and the iconic Mangal Shobhajatra. Netizens were divided in opinions evaluating the existence of a tradition that had started back in 1989 in response to the suppression during that time as an act of protest and unity with hopes for the greater good.
The long-standing observance brings together people of all ages in a jovial affair year after year, and has been certified as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. The students of Charukola wait all year for the time to come around to engage in the festivities keeping aside any despondency in the air. The festival is brought together by the endless efforts and sleepless nights of numerous students from different batches, old and new, of different departments of Charukola. When asked about the growing apathy among the multitude, the students only had high spirits in return.
Jahid Hassan is a freshman at the Department of Craft. This is his first time participating in the Bengali new year festivities at Charukola. "I have dreamt about this my entire life and the experience here with juniors and seniors working together is unmatched." he shared. "The shopkeeper mama in front of my house asked me why we continue with all this. He laments that all of this will become perfunctory but that only gives us more reason to continue."
Estiaz Hossen Rafi from the Department of Oriental Art opined, "People do not shy away from giving their opinion from anything and everything nowadays. Somebody put forward the misconstrued idea and then it spread everywhere. The main reason behind such opposition is the lack of knowledge but the ability of everyone to say something about it."
Shangramy further added that the two years of respite during Corona had an effect as well. "We used to listen to Baul songs regularly and watch Jatrapalagan before. In their free time, people used to engage in cultural activities. But during Corona, when people had a lot of idle time and nothing productive to do, many drifted away from the core values of unity and activities that bring people together. More people are now leaning towards fundamentalism and bringing forward opinions against celebrations with no relation to religion."
With orders from DSHE Director Professor Shahedul Kabir, the nation is all set to celebrate the first day of the new year in all institutions including the Mangal Shobhajatra which will set out at 9:00am tomorrow at Dhaka University premises.
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