Rivers have covered Bangladesh like spider webs which are why Bangladesh is often known as the land of rivers. Also most of the areas of Bangladesh are rural areas. As rivers or some channels of rivers can be found in every rural area, the most important and traditional source of entertainment is boat race or locally known as Nouka Baich. There isn’t any restriction about what type of boat can participate in this kind of race except that boats with engine aren’t allowed.
The history of Nouka Baich is very rich and very unique in nature comparing with the other form of boat race anywhere in the world. There isn’t any rules about how long the boat can be or how many people will it carry. But the most unique feature about Nouka Baich is in every boat there is a leader who doesn’t row but he acts as an energizer for the whole team by singing songs and rhymes. Normally this race is held in big river channels and neighboring villages participate for the pride of their villages.
For the rapid urbanization and intrusion of foreign culture are making this glorious tradition disappear. Now a days this kind of race is hard to find, that is why some cultural and sports groups are trying to revive Nouka Baich. For the past few years in Khulna and Sylhet city Nouka Baich is held regularly in Rupsha and Surma rivers respectively. This year is no exception as Nouka Baich was held in 2nd October. As the day was Friday, this year sees the most turn out of the people in last two years. People came from distant places to observe this epic event of Bengali culture.
It’s nice to see people is taking interest in tradition and in own culture more and more. That means our culture still has hopes to recover from the attack of foreign culture. But to fully recover more effort in regional and national level is needed and government as well as private sector has to come forward to do that. If we remember that we had one of the richest and oldest cultures in the history of the world, we will feel the energy for doing whatever its need to be done. And someday we can tell the world again that we have the richest culture of all.
Please find some resources on Boat Race of Bangladesh.
Pictures of Boat Race or Nouka Baich from Flickr
Banglapedia Boat Race Article
The Daily Star feature Article on Boat Race of Bangladesh
Tags: Boat race Bangladesh, Nouka Baich
