Spotlight
Prabartana organises Adivasi taant festival
Adivasi taant festival organised by Prabartana ends with the hopes of reviving the dying heritage. Weavers of eleven indigenous communities 
from Netrokona, Moulovibazar and Bandarban participated in the festival, displaying the exquisite and intricate art of their handloom. Women from the indigenous community demonstrated the magic of weaving to the audience. The idea was to introduce city people to the vibrant native fabrics produced entirely by hand, starting from yarning the thread to colouring, designing and fabricating.
In almost all the indigenous community living in Bangladesh, it is the women folk who carry out the wonderful job of weaving. Only a decade ago the entire community of indigenous people depended on them for their clothing need. Things have changed with the advent of modern life. Machine made materials are gradually taking over.
Mandi by origin, Binodini Rema came all the way from Netrokona to participate in the festival. She explains, “The raw materials are very costly these days. Machine made clothes are cheaper. More and more people are using it, which is why the traditional fabrics are losing their place”.
Three generations of women from her family including the daughter and granddaughter also came to join in the festival. In the past, it was a 
custom for the mothers to pass on the knowledge of weaving to their daughters. Rema mentions how the traditional knowledge of weaving is slowly disappearing from the lives of her descendants, “There was a time when all of us knew how to weave. Social structures have changed. Indigenous people are gradually choosing mainstream Bangali outfits. Our offspring hardly know about the taant any more”. Rema points out that, “To salvage the lost heritage we have to pass on our knowledge to the next generation”.
And the new generation seems to have heeded her words as the Adivasi taant culture seems to have found a following amongst a certain segment of the youngsters. Adivasi taant has found favour with the people due to its bold use of colours, unique texture and intricate patterns.
Other fashion houses and labels that should be mentioned in this regard are Bibi for Aarong, Rong and Debashish Chakma's Debashish Nabagata at Aranya.
These fashion houses are promoting the products while Prabartana is playing an important role in training young children and marketing. Currently they are running two schools in the Bandarban district.
By Shahnaz Parveen
News Flash
Falgun at Banglar Mela
With the bloom of flowers this spring, blossoms a new set of colourful styles in the fashion houses. Besides the key shade of yellow or 'bashanti' for this stimulating season, 'Banglar Mela' also proudly displays a whole range of colours from orange, red , black, green, yellow to off-tone colours of white and off-white.
Their unique sari collection varies from 'Kota' saris with tie-die, block, runfores, glass and sequin work to cotton handpaints and block sprays. The tangail cottons are priced between tk.360 to tk.520, blocks, sprays and hand crafted saris ranging from tk.675 to tk.850. The salwar kamizes are on taat material, decorated with vatic, block, spray, and embroidery, and an additional lure, the wider dopattas. The prices range from tk.700 to tk.900.There is also a good collection for gents, adding their own distinctive style with block, vatik, embroidery and spray. The fotuas are within tk.290 to 450 and the punjabis within tk.380to 580. An equally scintillating set of designs are assembled for the children.
Bangladeshi night at Sonargaon
Pan Pacific Sonargaon has introduced a weekly “Bangladeshi Night” with Food and Cultural presentation every Friday at its Cafe Bazar restaurant.
An array of mouth-watering foods of different regions of Bangladesh will be on display during the Bangladeshi Night at Cafe Bazar restaurant.
There will be Bengali inspired Salad along with the Seafood trolley and assorted Bhorta and Chutney.
Other features will be a whole baked fish during lunch and dinner.
The splendid Bangladeshi delicacies include Bhuna Khichuri, Beef Puddina Kasha, Mutton Lau, Alu Curry, Chicken Shorisha, Pumpkin & Prawn Bhaja, Naan, Ata Roti, Steamed Rice, Shak Dal, Pan Fried Spicy fish, Pan Fried Chicken Breast, Saute Spicy Fresh Vegetables, Pasta with tandoori chicken. The condiments are-fresh chilli, sliced onion, lemon wedges, mango pickles, olive pickles and Raita. The dessert will be made up of Bangladeshi Sweets and Pithas.
For the cultural side of things, "Rheetaal", a group of young artists is hired for Bangladeshi traditional, folk and fusion dance performance during dinner.
-LS Desk
Bhel Puri
250 g muri
½ tsp mustard seeds
2 medium sized potatoes (boiled and diced)
2 tbsp cooked peas, 1 tomato (Chopped)
6 tbsp fried shemoi (vermicelli)
60 g fried groundnuts
Tamarind Sauce
60 g molasses
tamarind, size of a medium lime salt
Chilli Sauce:
6 to 8 green chillies, ½ tsp salt ground with a sprinkling of water.
Garnishing:
3 to 4 green chillies (chopped), 1 tbsp coriander leaves (Chopped), 1 medium sized onion diced for garnishing .
Method:
Wash and keep tamarind in half cup of water. Strain and keep the juice. Add molasses and salt. Boil until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat, keep aside.
Spread fresh crisp muri on muslin.
Filter out sand particles if any. Heat oil, add mustard seeds and fry until they splutter. Add muri, stir for a minute and set aside. Just before serving mix dry ingredients with fried muri and add sauces to taste, toss, serve in individual dishes. Garnish with greens.
