Bihu
Bihu is a festival celebrated by the people who are living across the world, especially the Assamese people, and is more concentrated in the northeastern state of Assam, which is of great joy and amusement. Generally, the people understand the Bihu as one type, but in reality, there are three types of Bihu celebrated. They are Bohag bihu or rongali bihu, magh bihu or bhogali bihu, and Kati bihu or kongali bihu. The bhogali bihu is celebrated during the month of January, the rongali bihu during the month of April, and the Kati bihu is celebrated during the month of September or October. The Rongali Bihu coincides with the Assamese new year as well as with other regions of the Indian subcontinent.
Husori is sung by both older people as well as by the younger ones. Husori is a type of amusement activity that gives immense pleasure for the enjoyment of people. In husori, the people move from house to house and sing bihu songs or bihu naam, which is very pleasant or peaceful to hear. Husori is performed at the courtyard of villagers, which may have started during the Ahom rule. Initially it was performed in the courtyard of Rang Ghar to entertain the king, and then they moved to the courtyards of officials, and finally it gained popularity with the villagers as well. During the period when Vaishnavism was dominant, Husori assimilated the flavour of spirituality in its repertoire.
Husori is often referred to as the indomitable part of the Rongali Bihu; it is one of the several functions celebrated in the Rongali Bihu festival, and the singing of Husori starts on the very first day of the Goru Bihu (Cow Bihu). During husori, one of the whole group is regarded as the head, and he sings the bihu songs. The others just accompany the leader. Husori is sung for about a week, and the money collected at the end is sometimes used by the people in the group to go for a feast, or sometimes the people use that money towards the expenses of the husori group for their future needs. On the whole, husori makes the air come alive with the sounds of dhol, taal, pepa, cymbals, etc. On the various dates or days, the husori song is said to be different because on Goru Bihu, the songs sung on husori are different from the day of Manuh Bihu sung. Husori is also considered a type of exercise; that is, when people clap their hands. This also helps us to be healthy.
Manish Kashyap
Tripura university
Jayalalithaa case verdict
The Supreme Court dismissed the plea of Jayalalithaa's niece for the return of properties confiscated in a disproportionate assets case. The case was filed by the Karunanidhi government to settle a vengeance for Jaya by ordering a pullout at midnight, and at the request of Jaya, the case was shifted to Karnataka, but with Congress alliance support, DMK appealed and got the Jaya case verdict as a confiscation. Now the TN govt has to return it to her niece, she being the only legal heir. The Tamil government should auction these assets and use the proceeds for public welfare. The money realized may be used for social infrastructure, not to distribute freely. The fans of Jayalalithaa and ADMK cadres may pay more money to get these assets in public auction. Justice was delayed but not denied.
Jayanthy Subramaniam
(jayantck1@hotmail.com)
Power sharing
In May 2023, after much dilly-dallying, the Congress high command had named Siddaramaiah to lead its government in Karnataka. Whether the 77-year-old was asked to helm the affairs of the government for the first half of the five-year term was kept under wraps. Knowing Siddaramaiah, it is difficult to imagine the man agreeing to such an arrangement. That being said, the second-time chief minister has done reasonably well notwithstanding charges of nepotism. Some pre-poll guarantees have been fairly met, and the battle-scarred political veteran has it in him to go the whole hog to arrest the state's slide on key issues with time at hand.
However, a section of the Karnataka Congressmen, including some ministers, are hell-bent on seeing their leader, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar (DKS), in the Chief Minister's gaddi by November and seem to be urging the party high command to "honour" the 2 1/2--2 1/2 formula. Meanwhile, cries for a Dalit chief minister have emanated from some quarters, ostensibly to distract the DKS group. Not that Siddaramaiah is perturbed because the staunch leader of Ahinda, which comprises minorities, other backward classes, and dalits, became a minister within 5 years of entering politics and held several portfolios under various chief ministers with grace, dignity, and equanimity, apart from having the solid backing of the Congress High Command.
Dr Ganapathi Bhat
(gbhat13@gmail.com)