PAHELA Baishakh, the first day of [the] Bangla new year, marks a renewal of our bonding to our cultural heritage. It provides a powerful impetus to seek a new dawn collectively as a nation. Symbolically, the observance of the day signifies living with … nature, [being] alive to seasonal variations and, above all, [greeting] the new with hopes for a better future.

The tradition of Pahela Baishakh is rooted in the Mughal era when Emperor Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar introduced it to smoothen agriculture tax collection. So, there is a link to productivity. In business terms, it coincides with the opening of Halkhata, the new book of accounts drawing [up] a balance sheet of the year gone by.

Celebrations and festivities comprising distribution of sweets, organising … fairs to showcase the best of crafts and staging … musical soirées are [part] of the day’s spectacular eventful observance.

Our Bengaliness finds a heart-warming expression through … cultural bonding and pristine love and attachment to our way of life. It is truly an occasion to which all people, irrespective of religion, caste, creed and societal strata, can relate to….…Shuvo Nababarsho to all. — (April 14)