“I have many cherished memories of Eid celebrations in my childhood. If Eid was held during the monsoon, the festivity of a boat race added an extra colour of joy. If it was held in winter, we would organise village theatre. We invited near and dear ones and vice versa and would roam around visiting friends and relatives. In our time during Eid-ul-Azha, the distribution of meat among the impoverished was fair and they had a large share of protein. Once, we decided not to sacrifice cattle as many cattle died due to the dreadful cyclone of 1970.
“Folk performing art forms like jatrapala were held marking Durga Puja and Chaitra Shongkranti Mela (fair). However, folk performing art forms including jatrapala were marginalised and lost their appeal due to the emergence of fundamentalism during the military rule.
“Accomplished jatra artistes are absent as they have stepped away from the profession. What we have now is a sort of decadence in the name of culture. Many popular folk entertainment forms like ‘Lathikhela,’ bullfight and cockfight are rarely held in our village during festivals.
“Earlier, such rural sports were held spontaneously. To revive or bring back the golden time of cultural affluence, we’ll need a cultural movement — a movement not merely supported by cultural activists but also through diffusing a cultural conscience among the masses so that our folk or performing art forms cannot be commercialised in the era of globalization.
“It is a good sign that theatre has marched forward many miles in post independence-Bangladesh. But the village theatre practice has vanished. Marking Eid or Puja, the community festivals are out of existence.
“This Eid will come on a solemn note, as my father passed away on August 25. We are going to hold his chehlam on the third day of Eid-ul-Azha.”
“Folk performing art forms like jatrapala were held marking Durga Puja and Chaitra Shongkranti Mela (fair). However, folk performing art forms including jatrapala were marginalised and lost their appeal due to the emergence of fundamentalism during the military rule.
“Accomplished jatra artistes are absent as they have stepped away from the profession. What we have now is a sort of decadence in the name of culture. Many popular folk entertainment forms like ‘Lathikhela,’ bullfight and cockfight are rarely held in our village during festivals.
“Earlier, such rural sports were held spontaneously. To revive or bring back the golden time of cultural affluence, we’ll need a cultural movement — a movement not merely supported by cultural activists but also through diffusing a cultural conscience among the masses so that our folk or performing art forms cannot be commercialised in the era of globalization.
“It is a good sign that theatre has marched forward many miles in post independence-Bangladesh. But the village theatre practice has vanished. Marking Eid or Puja, the community festivals are out of existence.
“This Eid will come on a solemn note, as my father passed away on August 25. We are going to hold his chehlam on the third day of Eid-ul-Azha.”
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