SPRING IS IN THE AIR

The arrival of Pahela Falgun, the king of all seasons, is always greeted with a profusion of flowers, poetry, songs and dances.

Caught up in the excitement, Dhaka will wear a festive look on the first day of Bangla month Falgun. Jatiya Boshonto Utshab Udjapon Parishad 1422 has organised cultural programmes across the capital.

The first phase of celebrations will begin at 7:30am at Bakultala of Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA), Dhaka University, the hub of the celebrations. The programmes will begin with a sarangi recital by Motiar Hossain, and will feature performances by noted music and dance schools Surer Dhara, Sur Saptak, Nritya Nandan, Dhriti, Bhabna, Turongomi, and BAFA; solo musical performances by Rezwana Chowdhury Bannya, Ferdous Ara, Laisa Ahmed Lisa, BIzon Chandra Mistry, Sushmita Debnath Suchi and recitation by Bhashwar Bandopadhyay and Golam Sarwar, among others.

The second phase will see cultural performances at Bakultala, Dhanmondi's Rabindra Sarobar, Bahadur Shah Park in Old Dhaka and Uttara Secot 7 Park field, and will feature a wide range of music, dance and recitation performances.

Channel i, Deepto TV and ntv will broadcast various parts of the programmes live.

Girls in Bashonti(yellow-ochre) saris will adorn themselves with floral ornaments and boys will wear colourful Punjabi to see and be seen at the major events. Students FFA will as usual paint motifs on the more sporting visitors. Many bands will perform concerts at different points of the campus. Several private universities and colleges will also arrange programmes to herald spring.

Jatiya Boshonto Utshab Udjapon Parishad has been celebrating the arrival of Spring since the Bangla year 1401 (1995) in Dhaka, although Bangalees have traditionally celebrated the first day of Spring for centuries. Today, Pahela Falgun programmes have spread throughout the country and have become a major cultural celebration.

Mobile phone operator Grameenphone is sponsoring the event.