Deareditor

FESTIVAL AND COMMUNITY

If natural beauty is the heart of Assam, Bihu is its heartbeat. There will hardly be anyone who would not dance to the thumping of Dhols and the sweet clanging of taal. The Bohag month, since the end of the 17th century, has been receiving a fitting farewell from the “land of gentlemen” Dhakuakhana. Fato Bihu is unique for many reasons, especially because no Western wear is allowed in the Fato Bihu premises where people from different communities meet and greet and make merry. The Fato Bihu organising committee is so strict that they even didn’t allow the then Sahitya Sabha President and the chief guest Rongbong Terang to take part in the proceedings as he was clad in shirt and trousers. I think it is justified to be a little stern when it comes to culture which is slowly slipping away from our hands. Fato Bihu is taken to be a creation of the Kaivartta community which is in large numbers in Dhakuakhana. The Bihu dance by the Kaivartta community people is raw and close to the earth. The songs that accompany the dance is testimony to the struggle the Kaivartta community had gone through to earn respect in the larger Assamese society. The socalled higher caste people tried to strangle Bihu to death but it was the Kaivartta community who fought and gave a new life to Bihu. — NOOPUR BARUAH, TEZPUR via email