The Bengali Students Organization in association with the East-Central Illinois Bengali Association and Bangladeshi Students Association will host its first Bengali New Year event Sunday in the Lincoln Hall Theater.

The event will take place from 5–7:30 p.m. and is free to the public. BSO encouraged everyone who is interested to participate. 

The Bengali New Year begins April 14 with the first day being known as Pohela Boishakh.

Ragini Chakraborty, BSO social advisory committee member, explained why the Bengali New Year stands out to her.

“What makes the Bengali New Year unique is that the Bengali identity is a linguistic identity that is spread over the two countries of India and Bangladesh,” Chakraborty said.

Chakraborty said the celebration has a history of the language being divided by borders due to being dispersed between multiple countries in Asia. However, the one tradition that kept Bengali individuals unified was the Bengali New Year.

“It marks union across borders,” Chakraborty said. “That’s why we want to celebrate it so far away from home. We feel like this extends beyond Bengali communities and includes all our seeing friends who also would understand this festival from different perspectives.” 

The event will have dance performances, Bengali songs, theatrical performances, Bengali food and more. 

The organizers of BSO said the event will be a hybrid of both English and Bengali, in order to ensure the inclusion of all participants. 

Ayan Bhowmick, vice president of BSO, said he has not yet been able to participate in many Bengali-specific traditions due to growing up in the United States. He felt the Bengali community was not highly concentrated in the U.S. However, he explained his gratitude for the opportunities being provided by BSO’s upcoming event.

“Not only will I be able to speak and connect with others from my mother and father’s culture, but I will be able to see kind of what that (Bengali) lifestyle is like,” Bhowmick said.

Sourya Sengupta, president of BSO, further stressed the uniqueness of the Bengali culture. He said one important thing of any BSO event is the fact of the Bengali community not being restricted to a specific country. 

It has been one year since BSO was started again last fall after being inactive since 2018.

“What we are trying to do is make a connection with the student community and the community outside,” Chakraborty said. “It’s not meant to be just for the students, but we are trying to extend our friendship beyond the campus. We are trying to host whoever relates to this or wants to be a part of this.” 

For more information, visit BSO’s website. 

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