Urbanization and Bihu
Prior to the expansion of the capitalist mode of production and the capitalist society which has fuelled up the processes of urbanization and so called modernization to the extent that we see today, Bihu predominantly used to be a harvest festival. But today, claiming it so will perhaps not be correct in entirety. The idea of Bihu, being a harvest festival and the three Bihus ( bhogali , rongali and kongali ) being in some way or the other attached to crops, fields and the granaries has almost faded from our consciousness. In the wake of rapid urbanization and modernization in Assam, Bihu today is fast detaching itself from the rural to become a commercialized urban festival. Although to claim that the festival is no more celebrated in the villages would be an exaggeration, but the fact cannot be denied that the rapid urbanization has given Bihu a new décor. With the increasing commercialization of the festival, Bihu seems to be moving more towards the realm of...