The New Year orchestra is on…

The New Year is like an orchestra. Orchestra is sheer harmony. In villages the women thresh paddy in the Dekhi separating the rice from the grain in rhythmic coordination. Older folks gather around in small tea shops and slurp steaming cups of tea, boatmen while slumping the oars in the water, sing passionate bhatiali songs in high pitched voices. In the cities the muriwala with a jhunjhuni or handmade trumpet slung across his shoulder is seen blowing a song to his heart's content. The song probably from a forgotten movie or the latest cinema. The cobbler hammers the nail maintaining a definite rhythm, the chabiwala (locksmith) rattles his keys in search of customers.
A round up of the busy cultural calendar of the year that was:
The major cultural events of 2013 in Dhaka included Chobi Mela, 40 years of Dhaka Theatre fest, Bengal Classical Music Festival, Hay Fest and more.
The seventh edition of the biennial photography festival, the largest and oldest of its kind in Asia, was held in January last year. The weeklong festival featured works of 34 photographers from 24 countries.
Musicians, both young and old, arrived at the heart of the countrywide rallies demanding the severest punishment for war criminals -- to fuel the demonstrations with their voices. A wide array of musicians -- from folk icon Momtaz to underground heavy metal expressed their solidarity with the movement through their songs at Shahbagh's “Projonmo Chattar”. Many of the participating musicians expressed their all out support.
To uphold the opulent heritage and diversity of Bangla music, Bengal Foundation and India's ITC-Sangeet Research Academy held a nine daylong Bangla music festival, the first ever at the SRA premises, titled “E Kon Maya-e: Bangla Gaaner Utsab – Kolkata 2013”, at the ITC-SRA , Tollygunge, Kolkata.
The festival -- dedicated to the National Poet of Bangladesh, Kazi Nazrul Islam, was inaugurated on February 8 by the Information Minister of Bangladesh Hasanul Haq Inu.

The capital once again geared up to bathe in the radiance of brilliant minds who gathered at the Bangla Academy premises from around the world on the occasion of the Hay Festival Dhaka 2013.
This is the third time in as many years the three-day literary festival kicked off in the capital from November 14.
World class thinkers and writers, including Tariq Ali, Ahdaf Soueif and Pankaj Mishra, engaged in intellectual sessions of the festival.
A total of 75 sessions were held.
And then there was celebration of music, of grandeur. Bengal Foundation's efforts along with ITC-SRA, took the 2013 Classical Music Festival and made it bigger, better and eternally cemented in memory. The biggest names in Indian classical music and dance, along with representation from Bangladesh, kept the Army Stadium pulsating for four full nights as audiences in tens of thousands wrapped themselves in the arts of the highest order.
We all know music is magic. Music is harmony. Let us all lend a hand to those who work day in and day out to keep the nation humming. This one message will make it a better year for one and all!