Celebraties for a day: Bangladesh New Year
I was lucky enough to be in Bangladesh for their New Year celebrations which took place on 14th April. It was an amazing day - everyone was so excited and happy and dressed in their finest. For us the celebrations started the day before when Lucy's collegue Munna, his fiancee Irin and his two sisters took Lucy and me shopping for special saris to wear for Bangla New Year. Choosing the right sari is a big deal - the traditional colours for new year are red, white and orange and there are so many different patterns to choose from. Plus there were blouses and petticoats to buy and appropriate churi (bracelets). I was so glad Munna and the girls were there to help us - they were terrific at knowing the best places in the market to go and were very good at negotiating on our behalf!
This is us in a sari shop with Munna (left), his sisters, and Irin (in the black and white)
And this is one of the market shops that sells churi - so many different colours!
New years in Banga begins early - we were up by 5am to put on our saris and catch a rickshaw to Lucy's flatmate Bridget's workmate Tini's house. It was the first time I'd ever worn a sari so I was pretty excited, until I discovered we had to tie them by ourselves!!! Luckily, Lucy and Bridget had had a bit of practice, and Lucy's friend Naanki was pretty good at it too. I spent the rest of the day worried that it would fall off, that my pleats were all wrong or that my petticoat was showing (it probably was) but it was pretty cool to wear a sari anyway. I am, however, full of admiration for the many women in Banga who wear saris everyday - for cleaning in, working in the fields and even climbing ladders doing construction work!!
This is me, being confused and Naanki sorting me out! My sari had little sailing boats on it...
So, when we were all ready, we rickshawed off to Tini's house and then she and her brother took us to the university area where the main new year's celebrations were happening. On the rickshaws on the way heaps of people were waving to us and taking photos and calling out to say hello. I think they were pleased to see so many bideshis (foreigners) in saris celebrating their special day. Bring on the rockstar - dom!
And really, the rest of the day was like being a rockstar. Once we got to the uni area, the roads were closed and there were heaps of people milling around with stalls and stages with dancing and everyone was dressed in such amazing clothes. But the one thing that cracked me up, was the number of people who wanted photos with us or just of us! We also got interviewed on at least three tv stations and had heaps of pics for the papers..... oh to be famous for a day!
Later on in the morning, there were processions of giant papier-mache animals through the streets. It was such a fun day - everyone was so friendly and happy. Here are some more pics:
Bideshis in saris: Me, Lucy, Danielle and Bridget (note how well we tied them!!)
Bridge with Tini - her workmate who showed us around.
Some cool saris
The streets around the uni area were packed!
Some of the many random people who wanted a photo with us.
A mini-sari!
We got our faces painted as part of the celebrations
The parade
This is us in a sari shop with Munna (left), his sisters, and Irin (in the black and white)
And this is one of the market shops that sells churi - so many different colours!New years in Banga begins early - we were up by 5am to put on our saris and catch a rickshaw to Lucy's flatmate Bridget's workmate Tini's house. It was the first time I'd ever worn a sari so I was pretty excited, until I discovered we had to tie them by ourselves!!! Luckily, Lucy and Bridget had had a bit of practice, and Lucy's friend Naanki was pretty good at it too. I spent the rest of the day worried that it would fall off, that my pleats were all wrong or that my petticoat was showing (it probably was) but it was pretty cool to wear a sari anyway. I am, however, full of admiration for the many women in Banga who wear saris everyday - for cleaning in, working in the fields and even climbing ladders doing construction work!!
This is me, being confused and Naanki sorting me out! My sari had little sailing boats on it...So, when we were all ready, we rickshawed off to Tini's house and then she and her brother took us to the university area where the main new year's celebrations were happening. On the rickshaws on the way heaps of people were waving to us and taking photos and calling out to say hello. I think they were pleased to see so many bideshis (foreigners) in saris celebrating their special day. Bring on the rockstar - dom!
And really, the rest of the day was like being a rockstar. Once we got to the uni area, the roads were closed and there were heaps of people milling around with stalls and stages with dancing and everyone was dressed in such amazing clothes. But the one thing that cracked me up, was the number of people who wanted photos with us or just of us! We also got interviewed on at least three tv stations and had heaps of pics for the papers..... oh to be famous for a day!
Later on in the morning, there were processions of giant papier-mache animals through the streets. It was such a fun day - everyone was so friendly and happy. Here are some more pics:
Bideshis in saris: Me, Lucy, Danielle and Bridget (note how well we tied them!!)
Bridge with Tini - her workmate who showed us around.
Some cool saris
The streets around the uni area were packed!Some of the crowd we attracted (oh so rockstar!)
Some of the many random people who wanted a photo with us.
A mini-sari!
We got our faces painted as part of the celebrations
The parade
posted by anna at 9:41 am
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