Nabanno fest warms hearts on chilly morning
Special Correspondent
The mellifluous strains of a flute and a Santal dance sequence marked the opening of Nabanno Utsov at the Institution of Fine Arts of Dhaka University yesterday morning to greet the advent of Agrahayan, the first month of winter in the Bengali calendar. As the sun started breaking through the misty chill, many morning walkers at the nearby wooded Suhrawardy Uddayan headed to the festival venue, enjoying an array of steaming rice cakes and sweets from the makeshift mobile kitchens that provided the people with a taste of rural life when farmers return home with bountiful harvest.
Those gathered at the festival included people of all ages and status, including 84-year-old finance minister AMA Muhith and other senior citizens, who defied the chill in the air yesterday with the mercury dipping to 18.9 degree Celsius from Mondays 21.5 C. The scenario was far colder in the north-western part of the country, with Tetulia at the Himalayan foothills registering the lowest minimum temperature of 14.7 C yesterday. However, it was a bit of an improvement from Monday when the mercury had plunged to 14.2 C there.
Also yesterday, the Met Office forecast that the nights were going to cool gradually during the next 72 hours beginning as winter has started knocking around.
