Rongali Bihu 2011 celebrated in Gurgaon

The day was April 16. Venue, DLF Phase-I Community Centre, DLF Phase-I, Gurgaon. With dusk of the day, the venue trasformed in to a crowded ‘Bihutoli’ in Assam. Thousand plus people from the entire NCR of Delhi congregated in the venue and participated in the most cherished festival of Assam, ‘Rongali Bihu’, often described as the lifeline of Assamese community.

The curtains to the cultural evening was raised with a musical choir chorded by the ladies of AAG namely, Reena Sharma, Dr. Geeta Baruah Nath, Ashalata Bhuyan, Rajashree Kashyap, Momee Gogoi, Sangeeta Barooah, Mimun Das, Purnima Sharma, Mayuri Sharma, Nandini Sharma with music arranged & directed by Debojit Das. The ceremonial lamp was lit by Honorable Justice of Supreme Court of India, Dr. Mukundakam Sharma, Retd. IAS officer MP Bezbaruah, Principal Adviser to Govt. of Mizoram TP Khaund, Inspector General of Police Jyotirmoy Chakraborty, President of AAG Mridul Bhuyan, Vice-President Mukul Gogoi, General Secretary Dr. Kalpajeet Nath & Secretary (Literature) Dr. Geeta Baruah Nath. The souvenir of AAG, ‘Samannay’ was inaugurated by the honorable guests of the evening.

The prizes for the Recitation & Painting competition held earlier during the day were distributed by ‘Sahitya Academy Award’ winner Dr. Malaya Khaund, Writer Pratima Thakuria, Dr. Geeta Baruah Nath, Malabika Saikia. The first, second & third prizes for the Recitation Competition was secured by Master Nishant Mangal Kashyap, Master Kabir Nath, Rajoshee Dutta respectively. The first, second & third prize of the Painting competition for the age group of 4 to 7 yrs. were won jointly by Nikita Lakkaraju & Master Arnaav Deshpande, Rayna B Gogoi, Aditi Rahul Sathe respectively and for the age group of 8 to 12 yrs. were won by Rajoshee Dutta, Master Amlan Basu, Master Krisaang Anand respectively.

The evening erupted in to a crescendo with the show case event of the evening, the ‘Rs.19,000/- Prize Money Bihuwoti Competition’, initiated for the first time in NCR of Delhi by AAG. The first part of the competition was participated by 5 exotic Bihu dancer from NCR of Delhi i.e. Tonmoyee Rani Neog of JNU, Bhaswati Goswami of Delhi, Sanghamitra Patowari, Bedahuti Saharia, Pallavi Dutta of North Campus. A respite to the panel of judges consisting of veteran Delhite Siba Ram Deuri, Dev Prasanna Das of ‘Bhaiya Mama’ fame & reputed Sattriya Dancer Sanjukta Barooah from the herculean effort of judging the competitors were provided by a couple of melodious modern Assamese songs by local upcoming singer Debojit Das & Nandini Sharma. This was followed by 2nd Part of the Bihuwoti Competition by 4 bihu dancers i.e. Akankshya Bhuyan and Sanghamitra Borgohain of Gurgaon, Naomi Prachi Hazarika of Dwarka and Sikha Mahanta of Delhi. The judges had an tough time judging the bihuwotis for the four prizes. The First Prize consisting of a trophy in memory of Late Siba Nath Baruah & Late Mrinalini Baruah and a cash prize of Rs. 10,000/- was won by Sikha Mahanta of Delhi. The Second Prize consisting of a trophy in memory of Late Paresh Nath Sarma & Late Madhuri Sarma and a cash prize of Rs. 5,000/- went to Bedahuti Saharia of North Campus. The Third Prize consisting of a trophy in memory of Late Khireswar Kakoty and a cash prize of Rs. 3,000/- went to Pallavi Dutta of North Campus. The consolation prize of Rs. 1,000/- went to local damsel Akankshya Bhuyan.

The ‘Bihutoli’ was reverberated to the sound of ‘Dhol & Taal’ after the Prize money Bihuwoti Competion by ‘Dholor Ojha’ Jiron Khanikar of North Lakhimpur. The acrobatic ‘Dhol-Badan’ was enthralling & a feast to the eyes of the beholder. The all 9 participants of Bihuwoti Competition also presented a combo to the beats of the ‘Dhol’. The ‘Dhol-Badan’ was followed by eloquent dance performance by the gorgeous local dancing star Bidisha Sharma in a modern Assamese song. The dazzling & internationally acclaimed guest artist from Mumbai Abhishruti Bezbaruah took over from Bidisha and enthralled the audience with a variety of Assamese traditional Folk & Bihu songs. The audience in huge numbers broke into impromptu Bihu Dance to the tunes of Abhishruti. The curtain to the Cultural evening was dropped with the ‘Bihu-Hunsori’, performed by ‘Dakhyayini Sangskritic Gosthi’ from Guwahati consisting of members from Upper Assam & North Lakhimpur. The evening culminated with a culinary traditional Assamese feast consisting of ‘Bhat’, ‘Rahar Dail’, ‘Khaasi Mangso’, ‘Masor Kaaliya’, ‘Potolor Bhazi’, ‘Bengenar Bor’, ‘Bilahi Tak’ & ‘Payas’.

The evening was attended by thousand plus crowd and will be remembered by them for a long time to come.