Feature

Fusion of facts and fiction about Bashanto (Spring)

Mohammad Shafiqul Islam

If winter comes, can spring be far behind? Spring is loaded with new shows, many of which are worth a close look. So what am I looking forward to?

The seasons have been taken seriously into consideration by people all over the world since time immemorial. The intellectuals, especially the poets of world literature, have stressed the significance of seasons. They have both elevated and condemned them for different reasons. But spring is the season that has never been demeaned by any person at any time.

According to the great poets and philosophers, all the seasons can be exposed to the analogy of human life. Spring is wonderfully analogous to youth, the most coveted period of human life. It represents the most fresh, tender, unsullied and mirthful phase of life. Summer stands for middle age, autumn embodies the crabbed age and winter symbolizes decay, death etc. Nature returns to life after the adversities of winter when spring turns up.

One of the crowning figures of Romanticism in English literature, John Keats, has referred to spring as having its own sounds and music, its own pictures and symbols and its own colors and breezes. He referred to it in his famous 'Ode To Autumn'. He was appeasing autumn in such a way:

Where are the songs of spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too.

The world gets reshaped for the dawn of spring. Spring is the season of love. Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, “In spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” Love echoes in the air, in the heart and in the tongue of the excited youth. They seem to move to and fro to love and be loved. Their hearts fly to the loveland so that they can tantalize a fairy with love.

The singer of Bangladesh sing melodies with sprightly dance:

Bashanto batashe shoigou bashanto batashe,
Bondhur barir phuler gandho amar bari ashe
Shoigou bashanto batashe shoigou bashanto batashe.

Bashanto, the spring of Bangladesh, is the most adorable season for Bangladeshis. It is the season all Bangladeshis eagerly wait for. It occurs between winter and summer and covers Phalgun and Chaitra of the Bengali months (mid-February to mid-April). During this season winds are varied in direction because this is the time of transition. The minds of people move in varying degrees. Weather is by and large lovely in this time. Temperature, cloud and relative moderate humidity make this season special. During the latter part of the season isolated thunderstorms are usually seen to occur in the afternoon.

Bashanto is called the king of all seasons for its extraordinary features. People feel thrilled and inspired to take morning and evening walks in this time. The sky remains clear and plants keep sprouting new leaves. Breeze with a healing effect blows from the south, highly enjoyed by the people after the biting cold of winter. Various types of flowers bloom at this time. Flaming shimul, palash and krishnachura blossom in abundance. Plethora of golden radhachura and jarul are also found in great numbers. Fruit trees such as mango and jackfruit smile by flowering at this time.

The cuckoo is the harbinger of Bashanto. It gives the message that the monarch of seasons is around the corner. The season sees the arrival of the cuckoo, which sings enthralling songs in the foliage. Bees also remain active gathering nectar from flowers. The sounds of the bees make the orchards harmonious. Wheat, oat and mustard dominate the fields. Hindus celebrate Bashanti Puja at this time.

In the past this season was marked by epidemics like cholera and smallpox, which was called basanta. It has a little pertinence to the name of the season. Smallpox as a dangerous disease has been eradicated very successfully. So Bashanto is now only a source of inspiration, enthusiasm, happiness and optimism.

The seasons in Bangladesh regulate its economy, communication, trade and commerce, art and culture and in fact, the lifestyle of the people. Bashanto in this respect is of no disparity. It affects the lifestyle of the Bengalis to an even greater extent. The weather and panorama of nature seriously make the people undergo diverse feelings.

Bashanto in nature comes by turns while Bashanto in life can be eternal. Kazi Nazrul Islam saw Bashanto latent among many aged people. We the modern Bangladeshis should keep this vigorous life force up to become vanguards in every stage of life.

Lecturer, Department of English
Metropolitan University, Sylhet