Photo Feature

The Colours of Spring

Photos: Zahedul I. Khan
Text: Nader Rahman

Pahela Phalgun is more than just the beginning of spring it is the start of a festive period in Bangladesh, which culminates in the celebration of the Bangla New Year. An added quirk of the Gregorian calendar means it falls on the 13th of February, a day before Valentines Day. Around the country women come out in their yellow best, their bright saris mirroring the colours of spring. Women flock to Dhaka University with flowers in their hair, it is truly a sight to behold. From the youngest children to the oldest couples there is also something about spring that lends itself to romance, to which Valentines Day only adds to the expectations of lovers around the country. The arrival of spring may be symbolic but almost uncannily the weather seems to take the cue as it starts to warm from then onwards. The dark sweaters of late winter are replaced with many hues of bright and light spring clothes along with a festive mood around the country. As the weather clears up, flowers show their first bloom and they remain spring's truest calling card.

If one wishes to see the colours and excitement of Phalgun there is only one place to go, Dhaka University. The Basanta Utshab Festival Celebrations Committee there has been arranging programmes at Charukala for over a decade in an effort to popularise the event, a laudable step indeed. After it is all said and done, spring is about colour, change and new beginnings one only needs to look at nature to understand the importance of the season. The countdown to the Bangla New Year is now on.

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