- By Roopa Sharma

The Assamese Community of Chicago land gathered on the evening of Sunday, November 20th to pay tribute to Dr. Bhupen Hazarika as well as to celebrate his glorious life. The evening started with lighting the ‘saki’s in front of Bhupenda’s smiling picture by Rani Barua and Kobita Sundi. Rituraj Phukan gave a brief account of Dr. Hazarika accompanied by some video clips of his songs. The people stood up and observed two minutes of silence and prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul. A short cultural program was organized to honor this extraordinary legend of Assam.

Bhupenda’s song “Aah aah ulai aah xojag jonota” was that evening’s chorus. Several people paid tribute by singing different songs of Dr. Hazarika. They were Arup Bhuyan, Enakshi Baruah, Kobita Sundi, Anwar Fardeen, and Arundhati Barua. Siddhartha Bhattacharya played a few numbers of Dr. Hazarika on violin. Nivedita Das performed a dance with song from “Rudali”. Roopa Sharma recited a poem composed herself to honor Bhupenda. The evening ended with catered dinner after Bibhas Barua, Dibakar Sundi, and Roopa Sharma shared some of the memories with Dr. Bhupen Hazarika.