Happy Bengali New Year

Happy New Year from Bangladesh

Here in Dhaka we are celebrating the Bengali New Year.  According to the AISD newsletter,

In the last decade, Bengali New Year has become the grandest of all cultural events in Bangladesh. The New Year, called Boishakh, is also celebrated throughout the region. It's recognized in northern India and Bengal, in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burma (Myanmar). The calendar will roll over on April 14 to the year 1419. Our celebration in the elementary school will take place on Thursday, April 19th. We have a holiday from school on the actual date, Thursday, April 14th.

Dressed up for the New Year

As you go around Dhaka on April 14th you will see brightly dressed people, often wearing the traditional red and white colors that herald the beginning of the New Year. Girls wear fresh flowers in their hair and decorate their hands and feet with intricate henna designs that last for days after the New Year has passed as a reminder of new beginnings.

Street Fair in Dhanmondi 

As it happens, Gail and I were in the middle of it Saturday the 14^th.  We had acquired VIP passes to the first ever Dhaka Art Summit and were using our day off to check out some of the art galleries around the city.  We had gone to a couple galleries Friday evening on the way to a rooftop birthday party.  Each was a well-designed space for art and completely different from the dirt, dust, beggars and grime that we found on the street just outside. 

Saturday we headed down to more downtown locations.  We didn’t know what to expect, of course, but we found ourselves in a sea of humanity and traffic everywhere we looked.  All together, we were in the car for about four hours and saw one gallery. 

We got to one gallery, after a couple wrong turns, and saw some cool stuff and met a couple local artists, one of whom has some experience with local theater.

More of the Street Fair

We headed off to the next one, just a few blocks away.  When our driver finally fought his way through the crowd, we were able to park a couple blocks from the Dhaka Art Gallery.  The streets were barricaded and a street fair was in progress. There were assorted vendors, noise-makers, face-painters and lots of ladies in red and white.  And of course, the Gallery was closed.  

The Longest Painted Street in the World

Gail’s quest for art will continue this weekend with one of the fourth grade teachers, and we’ll both go to a Rock and Roll Trivia night at the American Club.  We’re supposed to dress as our favorite rock and roll star, but I’m not sure how to make myself look like Dylan, and Millie thought of Neil Young, but she’s not sure what he looks like.  Gail was thinking of KISS makeup.  The latest is Alice Cooper and we have the hats. 

Shubo Nobo Borsho! (Happy New Year)