Annoprashon in a Faraway Land

On a cold Saturday evening in February, while we were waiting with bated breath for two rounds of winter storms that had been forecast for Boston, we celebrated Aagami's annoprashon, and for the crowd gathered around him, the gathering clouds did nothing to take away from the merry-making and joyous chanting that continued well past midnight.
Aagami is the only child of Taposh and Nita, our family friend, and one of the most celebrated and charming couples in the Bengali-speaking society in New England. Taposh is the founder of Amra Kojon, a global community of musicians and music-lovers, and an inveterate party monger. The proud parents hosted a party at their house in Providence, Rhode Island, to celebrate his first taste of solid food. The invitation letter indicated that the party was arranged to bring us together as Aagami takes tiny steps on his march towards manhood! To quote:
"Now that Aagami will be 6 months old, it is time for him to step into a new phase of his life as he graduates from liquid food to a solid food diet!! It certainly is an important step of his childhood and he would like his family and friends to be a part of this celebration."
The Bangladeshi and Indian Bengali community in the Boston area is familiar with Taposh's amazing wizardry and skills as a "party" organizer, be it in the cultural or in the social arena. In addition to the two mega cultural shows of 2003 and 2008, he and Amra Kojon have been an integral part of Boston's annual celebrations of Bengali New Year, Tagore's birthday, etc. He is also known for his house parties, which always end up drawing an overflow crowd. Often my wife and I would drag each other out in the wee hours from his Hope Street residence, Shaptak House, to go home.
So we could guess that Aagami's first year on this planet would be just as colourful, if not for him, at least for his scores of uncles, aunts, cousins and his extended family. On this February evening Taposh's house, which is full of arts and crafts from Bangladesh, and other memorabilia from his mega-events in 2003 and 2008, was brimming with people by sunset. Since it was February and winter was not yet officially over, while Taposh might have been tempted to have the event outdoors, he probably yielded to his rational instincts and gave up that idea. When Rumi and I reached his house, there was a big fire burning in front of the house as a sign of his defiance of nature and a symbol of the happenings inside the house, where we were greeted by a cacophony of voices, aroma, sounds, and musical medley.
Taposh's cooking skills, honed over a few years of his bachelor life while he was waiting for Neeta to join him, is worth mentioning. He has been credited with preparing a five course meal with fish, vegetables, salad, daal and chorchori on an hour's notice. At the Annoprashon, the hors d' oeuvre was his creation, with chick peas, cucumber, tomato, carrots, celery, and scallions with a generous dash of freshly squeezed lime. We had tasted it before and knew that it is such a rare treat that the guests swipe it off within fifteen minutes. So we made a bee line for the dining table as soon as we arrived. I pretty much ignored other veggies and dips. Then came the annoprashon ceremony. His grandmother, or RaaniMaa, had brought many of the paraphernalia for the annoprashon ceremony from Bangladesh, including the "topor", in which he looked adorable. While we were relishing every single phase of the hour-long rituals, poor Aagami could not care less, and on a couple of occasions expressed his displease at being subjected to rounds and rounds of solid food and being tossed around from one lap to another while we were all watching and clapping. I have a feeling he does not enjoy crowd as much as Taposh does. At least, not yet!
The dinner was served after the annoprashon ceremony was over. Because fish curry is such a rare commodity at my house (I can't smell the smell of indoor cooking), that's what I usually target at Taposh's. My mother, when we were younger, imprinted upon us the importance of tasting the Kolkata style of cooking macher kaalia and dolna. The guests soon got to know that RaaniMaa was the chief architect behind the fish curry. And it did not disappoint the fish lovers.
As only can happen at Taposh's party, just as the dinner was in progress, he started humming a line from a familiar song, "aha ki anondo akashey batashey..". That was just the instigation we were waiting for to get started. What followed for the next half an hour was an impromptu musical show around the dining table. "Purano shei diner kotha", led to "ei jey nodi", which was then followed by "gram chhara ei Rangamatir poth". One song segued into another and we were in a truly frenzied spirit that can be likened to a revivalist chant, a rapture in the American South. We sang at the top of our voice and heaved with the rhythmic motion of the music.
The meal was rounded off with freshly made jilaybi and kheer. Then came the paan enhanced by flavors and out-of-this-world fillings. Finally, my wife had to drag me away in the early hours of Sunday, but not before I went in for another round of paan for the road.

Dr. Abdullah Shibli lives and works in Boston, USA.