Page 104 - Sonbeel Utsab 2024

Sab sakhigon nitya kore
Chou dike ghuriya
Keya na ketoki phul
Phutilo bistor
Jhoriya jhoria pore
Rai kanur upor

O come ye Gopis with joyous heart
To Brindaban ras mela
Sri Nanda's nandan(son)
In His Canopy Bed and Mat
Centering Radha and Kanu all the 'sakhis'(companions)
Dance whirling round and round
Keya or ketoki bloom in abundance
And Shower upon Rai and Kanu

The entire song is replete with the celestial beauty of the imagery of Radha
Krishna in their bower, with the Gopinis dancing in heavenly joy and the keya,
ketaki flowers showering upon them. Here it will not be redundant to say that in
some parts of Son –Bheel and even a village exits where the residents are
Vaishnavites, and hence their songs reflect their reverence and devotion to Radha
Krishna.

In this remotest corner of the Northeast unexplored by the outer world, lies
one of the richest treasures of the earth. Here the indigenous people lead a simple life
nurtured and sustained by the forces of nature. The social structure is a well –knit one
with strong family bonding and brotherhood. The Beel, one of Nature's exemplary
gifts to mankind, with sufficient aids and grants from Central and State Government,
would have become a most remarkable tourist spot. In this context it may be
necessary to say here that years back this Beel had water in it all throughout the year.
But with the encroachment on the land and sedimentation, the level of the lake has
risen up leading to the overflow of water. However the Union Ministry of
Environment and forest has granted the status of national wetland to this oxbow
lake, thereby raising the hopes of future prospects of this wonderful land.

The purpose of this paper has been to highlight the regional at the national
level and to focus on the point that India lives in the villages, with its diverse ethnic
cultural traditions and values. The need of the hour is to introspect and to look into
our roots, to reclaim the past, re-read the socio-cultural history and re-establish its
primeval glory. We should be proud of our rich legacy, and agree with Gayatri
Spivak when says that we should create a space “…where the marginal can speak
and be spoken, even spoken for” (Spivak 1993: 56). Thus we may conclude by
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