I’ll celebrate Naboborsho on the same day as my Indian Bengali friends, says Badhon

This year, actress Azmeri Haque

Badhon

will be celebrating

Poila Boishakh

across the Atlantic. The actress, who is from Bangladesh, will be flying to

Austin

, Texas, to attend a film festival. She told us, “On April 14 (the day the Bengali New Year is celebrated in Bangladesh), I’ll be on a flight.” But that doesn’t mean she won’t be celebrating Naboborsho. The actress, who also posed for a

Naboborsho

shoot done in Dhaka
exclusively for Calcutta Times, revealed her plans to us in a chat. Excerpts:

Kasavu from Kerala,

Jamdani

from Dhaka

In February, Badhon attended the International Film Festival of Kerala. It was then she learnt about Kasavu – the iconic Kerala weave in white and golden threads. “At the festival, I saw Bhavana Menon wearing one. I was floored. When I told the organisers, they took me to the weaver’s neighbourhood. I bought three saris and some handloom textile to stitch the blouses,” she told us.
Badhon plans to wear a Kasavu sari to an event being hosted by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka. “My stylist friend curated a great look for the event. I love the earrings and the neckpiece. I’ll reach Austin on April 15 and the red carpet event is on the same day. I’ll wear a white Dhakai jamdani for that event. There will also be a small Naboborsho celebration in the afternoon. So I’ll be celebrating Naboborsho on the same day as my Indian Bengali friends,” she said.


A festival that unites

Traditionally, Poila Boishakh is celebrated in Bangladesh with colourful rallies and loads of merrymaking. “Ever since I was a child, I’ve felt that this festival is a unifier. You see, Eid and Puja are celebrated by respective communities, though everyone joins in. But Poila Boishakh has nothing to do with faith; it’s celebrated by everyone,” Badhon said.



‘My daughter and I wore twinning outfits to parties’

When my daughter, Sayera, was a little girl, we used to attend parties in twinning outfits. I would have to coax tailors into stitching a small sari for her that looks exactly like mine and we got our hair done in similar styles. And the best part was that Sayera used to carry off the looks with confidence. Our look used to be a big hit back then, as not many actresses brought their daughters along to parties. We had good fun. Then Sayera grew up. She is 11 now and hardly listens to me.