-By Debabrata Sarma, Kirkland, WA

As usual when Seattle hosts the Rongali Bihu in the North West region, it is very likely to be accompanied by rain. So did it happen on April 20, 2013, and there was a good amount of drenching for everybody before getting inside the venue. Once inside, everybody’s spirit lifted with the Bihu songs playing in the air inside the beautiful hall with a fabulous sound system! The festivities commenced right away with the exchange of Bihu and New Year’s greetings amongst the attendees!
Nandita Rajkhowa compered the evening program with great diligence and was able to keep the flow without any delays.

It was a pleasant surprise to see the participation of children in great numbers starting from the tiny tots! Thanks to the parents for introducing their children to the rich culture of our beloved state!
Everybody was really happy to see participation from Vancouver (Canada) families and Portland and Vancouver (Washington) families as groups in the evening cultural program.

The evening started with a welcome address by Dr. Debabrata Sarma followed immediately by Jonali Borgohain with an excellent classical rendering of the Ganapati dance.
The Seattle kids, Barbie Bezbaruah, Rishika Barua, Riniki Gogoi, Ruhi Rajkhowa, Kaustubhi Das, Rishi Rajkhowa, Rajveer Deka, and Saptarishi Das, performed an almost authentic Hoosori, impressing everybody. Sachetan Sengupta followed with a nice piano recital.
It was a day for the children. Rajveer recited a poem, Bhoot Poowali” by Jyoti Prasad Agarwala. Riniki followed with a solo song of “Bilote haalise dhoonia padoomi…”, the famous Bishnu Rabha song. Barbie executed a beautiful performance of an Odishi dance. The Portland children, Anish Goswami, Aroosh Goswami, Sanika Ali, Ridhiman Prateek Choudhury and Aashvi Medhi (Seattle), performed a group dance. Shreya Sarma from Vancouver, Canada, did a scintillating performance of a Bihu dance. Pooja Senapati had the opportunity of showing her dancing talents in two of her dances based on hindi songs. One of the songs was the famous, “Joi Ho…” Rhea Ali of Vancouver (Washington) and Lana Buragohain of Seattle, danced to the tune of a hindi song, “Nan-na Re, Nan-na Re,…”, another beautiful performance from the children. The

sweet surprise was a solo song by little Mahika Sharma from Vancouver, Canada. She chose the popular song, “O’ dhoon dhoonia,…” by Dr. Biren Datta. Dr. Biren Datta’s song seems to be back in popularity. The Seattle children, Barbie, Rishika, Riniki, Ruhi, Kaustubhi, and Trisha Buragohain, danced to the tune of “Mookhat doodal doobori bon…”
Latha Nath as usual regaled everybody with a hindi song. The Seattle ladies, Sanghamitra Borgohain, Bhusana Deka, Jonali Borgohain, and Gitashri Goswami, mesmerized the audience with a beautiful Bihu dance performance which has now risen to a professional level. Sujata Talukdar followed with a Dr. Bhupen Hazarika song, “Ganga mour ma, Padma mour ma…”
There was a pleasant surprise Bihu dance by the Portland group of ladies, Suman Tasnim, Rhea Ali and Pompi Das. The biggest surprise of all was three skits from the Vancouver (Canada) group presented by, Sanjay Saikia, Abyartha Sharma and Bhaskar Sarma. Kudos to the Vancouver group for bringing a change in the cultural program.
There will not be an end to a Bihu celebration without the Hoosori. The menfolk, Satyajit Nath, Saranga Goswami, Rubul Das, Ranjan Barua, Mridul Gogoi, Trideev Gogoi, Bhaskar Deka, and Amlan Chakravarty, practiced quite a lot to achieve perfection. It was a nicely choreographed Hoosori along with the ladies, Sanghamitra, Bhusana, Jonali, and Gitashri. The Hoosori was the end of the cultural evening which culminated with everybody joining in the Mookoli Bihu, which continued for a very long time, nobody seems to be getting tired and wanted to continue forever!
The day ended with a delicious dinner with plenty of food all prepared by the Seattle ladies.
Abyartha Sharma gave the vote of thanks and rightfully praised the small group of organizers who tirelessly worked for several weeks to make the North West Rongali Bihu a great success!
Thanks to Trideev Gogoi and Satyajit Nath for nicely decorating the stage. Special thanks to Trideev for the new banner.
Thanks to Dwipen Bhagawati, Mridul Gogoi and Susanta Sengupta for sharing the beautiful photos!