Bihu is Assam’s main fes­ti­val. And what I like best about it is that unlike most fes­ti­vals, it is non-religious and asso­ci­ated with agri­cul­ture — observed to cel­e­brate the har­vest­ing sea­son. We cel­e­brate Bihu, three times dur­ing the year. In Jan­u­ary, it is called Maagh Bihu, and usu­ally held on the 14th and 15th of the month (1st and 2nd Maagh, the tenth month of Assamese calendar).

My best mem­o­ries of cel­e­brat­ing Bihu are dur­ing my school days. We would come down to Guwa­hati in those days because it used to be school hol­i­days (and much to cold to stay in Shil­long!). The whole fam­ily (from my father’s side) would get together in my granny’s place.

It used to be a spe­cial time when all of us cousins would get together. It was a time of build­ing mejis (con­i­cal struc­tures built out of bam­boo that are burnt early in the morn­ing), late nights, kon aloos (small pota­toes roasted in the fire, really yummy!), feasts (fish, chicken is a must dur­ing this fes­ti­val) and of course, our var­i­ous pithas (snacks made out of rice powder).

The real cel­e­bra­tions and fun would start after the adults (read, spoil­sports!) slept off. We would stay up by the fire through the night and then burn the meji in the morn­ing. This is now a sym­bolic tra­di­tion in towns, but in vil­lages, the ashes of the meji scat­tered over the fields is sup­posed to increase the fer­til­ity of the soil (and there­fore result in a bet­ter harvest).

It’s been ages since I cel­e­brated Bihu. Here in Mum­bai, it’s usu­ally a call home to wish the fam­ily. Pithas… well I never actu­ally got around to learn­ing how to make them. Besides, I think they only taste good in Assam!

But today, I thought I’d take the chance to wish the few Asomiya blog­gers that I know – Suruj, Pallavi and Gan­dalf — a very happy Maagh Bihu!