Reminiscing and reliving Magh Bihu

  Nostalgia is a part of every immigrant's life, a treasure trove. I carry a piece of Assam in my heart and wear it on my sleeves. Special occasions and festivities often transport me back to my homeland, especially to my large family with all Our Uncles and Aunts, to our house and our expansive courtyard in Assam. During this time, my homeland, Assam, celebrates Magh Bihu with great zeal. Magh Bihu is a harvest festival, similar to Thanksgiving in the USA, where the end of the harvest season is widely celebrated. I reminisce those wonderful times, how in the guidance of my Koka (Grandfather) we used to build a makeshift house in our courtyard, my Pehis(Aunts) and Mom prepared Bihu delicacies. How the whirlpool of flavor straightly tantalized my senses with roasted sesame, ground sticky rice, and the sticky and syrupy smell of jaggery. During the day, our house help collected all the winter vegetables, whether it was olkobi, pohulkobi, or tender potatoes from our kitchen garden, and prepared them for the night feast. Deuta always used to get Meat and Fish. Fresh river fish used to be the star of the meal, and without fatty mutton or duck, you can't imagine the Magh Bihu feast. Even though nowadays chicken is widely used but the chicken came to the Assamese food scene much later.  

As the day turned into dusk, the night we call Uruka, the bhoj preparation begins, and side by side, we start eating kathalu (yam).  It can be either roasted over a wood fire or fried, sliced a little bigger than chips, and sometimes prepared as a patty with rice flour, onion, fresh chopped green chilies, salt, and a hint of coriander leaves, and then fried in mustard oil. Bubbling black gram dal (mati dail), delicately prepared light and sour fish curry, a whippy and thick, oily mutton curry with spices like black pepper, chilies, cardamom, and cinnamon, cooked over a wood fire. The feast also includes a simple vegetable curry from the kitchen garden. You won't imagine that it tastes so luscious and delectable even without a hint of spices. A bed of simple, garden-fresh salad, prepared with tomatoes, onion, and cabbage, always accompanied the feast. The night is filled with good food, laughter, music, and poetry, and our innocent jokes while we eat together with our neighbors, just like one big family. The next day we used to wake up early and take a shower to light the meji ( bonfire), and after the meji, we drink tea and enjoy all the delicacies ma and Pehis(Fraternal Aunt) made, from sewy pithas to crunchy loodos, followed by jalpan(light meal). Ma used to offer a prayer in the Namgar (an assamese temple) for the well-being of the whole family.  

The nostalgia took me to my childhood in Assam. Here I am, after 25 years, far from my family with my own family of four, including two kids. Today, on the day of bhogali Bihu here at my home in Connecticut, I cooked all the food as my mom used to cook during Bihu. This year, Bihu without Deuta (Dad), my Aunt came and celebrated with Ma to not let her be alone. Here, I set up the table and laid all the food in front of my kids. I relived those good old days. My family loved it and asked for more, of course, without meji and the bhela ghar. Yes, something to look back on when they grow up and reminisce.