ChinmayC Blog

From Shillong Peak Shillong---a city of the North Eastern India we have grown up with. Because, this beautiful hill station had been the capital of Assam till January, 1972 when Meghalaya was carved out of Assam as a separate state. And because the music legend of Assam, Bhupen Hazarika composed beautiful songs on Shillong and Meghalaya during the 50s, 60s and 70s. These songs have been our great favorites from our childhood days. So it hardly mattered that I visited the city only twice—once in my childhood days with memories getting blurred and one very brief visit in the 90s. When Shillong suddenly became my workplace I went there with all familiarity and with an unspoken bond of love. Ward's Lake I must mention the three evergreen Assamese numbers by Bhupen Hazarika on Shillong that always haunted me. ‘ Shillongore Godhuli’ (Evening in Shillong), ‘ Shillongore Monalisa Lyngdoh ’ (‘Hello, Monalisa Lyngdoh from Shillong’ with Jayanta Hazarika) and his Assamese-Khasi movie ‘ Pra...

  The first to dissolve into eternity was the legendary singer-poet-lyricist-writer-journalist-filmmaker  Dr. Bhupen Hazarika  who passed away at a Mumbai Hospital on November 5, 2011. And now, the celebrated author-social reformer-academician Prof. Indira Goswami, better known by her pen name Mamoni Raisom Goswami, passed away at a Guwahati hospital on November 29, 2011. Two noted personalities of Assam who have been rooted to the soil and totally committed to the people and the land they belonged to. They have been the torchbearers for Assam carrying themselves with numerous awards and recognitions at the national and international levels. Assam has been identified with their laurels and as their home state. While one got the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the highest honor in Cinema in India, the other got the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honor of the country. One is dearest ‘Da’ (elder brother) and the other is beloved ‘Baideo’ (elder sister) for all of the Assame...

River Brahmaputra flows through almost the entire length of Assam, a state in North East India, from the far east of Arunachal Pradesh down to the west and out of Assam. It’s called by different names in different regions. In Assamese it’s also referred to Lohit or Luit . The peoples’ singer-poet-composer Bhupen Hazarika accepts River Brahmaputra as the symbol of vitality and strength of Assam. Very much in the tradition of Ol’ Man River of Paul Robeson fame he always sings in eulogy and devotion to the great river:                                                   “O’ mighty Brahmaputra…you are the pilgrimage of reunion…                      ...

We have said earlier about Dr. Bhupen Hazarika’s songs have a strong social commitment reflecting the joyful or sorrowful times of not only Assam, but the whole of the North East India. Here is one song that aims at the total common man—the unemployed youths. After auto-rickshaws  were introduced in the streets of Assam Bhupen Hazarika wrote, composed and sang this song with his younger brother late Jayanta Hazarika in probably the late sixties to inspire the unemployed local youths not to hesitate but to go for it. The lyrics of the evergreen song go like this in English:                                                             “Driving our auto-rickshaw, we two brothers…     ...

‘Not first, not second…we are third class passengers in a bogey of the Train of life!   The train cries out our deprivation…the sadness oozes out in sparks of fire…!   The big packages in the train contain our tears…we pave our way with the steam of our tears!   We have all our companions traveling with us…hoping to be delivered finally at the Destination!’ The humble singer cried out in anguish! The peoples’ singer who represented the poor, the downtrodden, the exploited, the tribals of the hills, the plains…inspiring everyone from the illiterate villager to the erudite urbanites.   He sang their sadness, distress, frustrations, joys and ecstasies all his life. And truly, tearfully and gratefully…the millions are surging and surging…in an unending stream…to pay homage to their dearest artiste Bhupen Hazarika. Queues of people stretching more than five kilometers to get to the Judges Field in Guwahati, Assam and pay their last respects. Crowds pouring from ev...

What a spontaneous and overwhelming demonstration of love! What a tremendous expression of adulation! To an artiste rooted to his soil, an artiste committed to his society and people and an artist truly of the masses. There had   been no landmark or movement or progress achieved or stressful times of Assam that had not been sincerely reflected in his songs. His songs, in fact, have been a genuine document of Assam’s journey through the decades. A tearful farewell to Dr. Bhupen Hazarika on his last journey on his dearest motherland. Since the day of his passing away one and every member of the Assamese community in Mumbai has landed on the hospital premises to offer last prayers. Yesterday, almost all of them were there to bid a sorrowful goodbye to their icon. Early morning today Dr. Bhupen Hazarika’s mortal remains had been flown from Mumbai to Guwahati, his hometown in Assam. Thousands of people from all walks of life were everywhere; in the airport premises, in the streets,...

In the musical fraternity of my family, nearer and distant relatives and friends there has been a huge fan following for Dr. Bhupen Hazarika. Many of the fans were either polished or workable singers of Bhupenda songs. With combined scenario of in-house artistry and fan following we used to have frequent musical get-togethers—mostly at evening hours and on rotational basis. My eldest maternal uncle late Dhiren Sarma and my younger brother Jyotirmay were polished singers of Bhupenda songs. Both of them used to sing one particular song with terrific artistry and emotion. I have attached here the You Tube link borrowed from the net. I had the privilege of meeting Bhupenda on several occasions ranging from my childhood days to present. We used to go to the Bihu functions at night and waited late for savoring the programs of Bhupenda with his dearest younger brother and singing maestro late Jayanta Hazarika.   Once in childhood days, we were on our way from Tezpur to our native village...

We have been born listening to his songs, we grew up with his songs and we are still living with his evergreen songs. He is a way of life for the people of Assam, a state in North East India, and he has been an integral part of their existence. The golden voice of Dr. Bhupen Hazarika has ceased today after a span of over sixty years. The people of Assam and also of India, particularly West Bengal, have now to accept this fact. He has been a singer par excellence, a top class lyricist, a writer-journalist, a music director and a filmmaker. His songs are characterized by unique literary words, phrases and expressions. He has shown that melody can still be kept with complex literary words of the highest order. It has always been a pleasure to try singing his songs because of the complex yet beautiful lyrical compositions. His lyrics and tunes have the earthy native fragrance of the land he belonged to. He has been the dearest Bhupenda (‘da’ meaning dear elder brother) for all of the peop...