Panta-ilish is probably the dish that will continually lure many people, at least on the eve of Pahela Baishakh.

But has anyone searched for the roots of this panta-ilish trend, rice soaked in water overnight and offered with hilsha fry in a sanki (clay bowl)?

Ironically, this fad that has become nothing less than an "epidemic" now and is hugely popular among the city dwellers, is not a reflection of typical Bangladeshi tradition or culture.

It is rather dissonant with the traditional life and does not represent the cultural living and upbringing since the time immemorial.

At least Soumitra Shekhar, a professor of Bangla and also director at Nazrul Research Centre in Dhaka University, says so.

"The panta-ilish trend is not our tradition. Our farmers never in the distant past ate these. This trend is derived from a consumer culture in the urban areas," Soumitra Shekhar said adding that none did take panta, if he or she could afford to get the staple.

He said offering panta-ilish in a shanki is a symbol of poverty in Bengali culture.

"Only the poor would eat from a sanki. Even they would borrow brass plates from neighbours to offer food to guests," he said.

Then, how did this trend come into being and earn such popularity?

The professor blames a section of corporate houses and their policies, saying that the some corporate bodies demeaned the Bengali culture by introducing the trend.

"Our farmers or villagers used to have muri-murki and naru-moa (traditional foods of puffed rice and molasses) on Pahela Baishakh, not panta-ilish," Shekhar said.

Whatever the facts may be, the people could hardly care less about the origin of this fad. Partaking panta-ilish has itself become the new tradition for many.

And here lies the lucrative business for the fishermen. They sell the fish hilsha at 5-6 times higher the normal price ahead of 

Pahela Baishakh.

"God willing, we can sell a pair of hilsha at about Tk 3,000 ahead of the Pahela Baishakh," Nowab Mia, a fisherman in the Karwan Bazar fish market in the capital, said.

However, along with panta-ilish and the array of spicy mashed fish and vegetable 'bhartas' this Baishakh, there is the matter of health.
"Panta-ilish as a breakfast dish is not very healthy, especially for those with gastritis problems," said Rezaul Haider, an associate professor of medicine at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Watermelon juice at breakfast is a much healthier option, as he suggests, before joining theprobhatferi, the morning procession, to celebrate the Bangla New Year, with the song -- Esho he Baishakh, esho, esho... (Come, O Baishakh, come ...)