- By Shakuntala (Moonmoon) Choudhury
Bridgewater, New Jersey, USA. November 9, 2011
The legendary hero, the most admired Assamese of the 20th-21st century Dr. Bhupen Hazarika is no more. His mesmerizing voice, the wonderful words in his songs, his distinct linguistics characteristics will become nostalgic memories for all of us in Assam, India and the World. His mortal remains will be gone on November 9th, 2011, but he will remain an inspiration to the Assamese people for years to come. He passed away on a very auspicious day in the Hindu calendar – Kartik Ekadesi (November 5th).
Dr. Hazarika, who was a genius for weaving a magical tapestry out of traditional Assamese music and lyrics, is regarded as one of the greatest living cultural communicators of South Asia. He has been a poet, journalist, singer, lyricist, musician, filmmaker and writer.
He was “pitritulya” to me, being the class-mate of my father Dr. Jyotiprasad Medhi. My father and Dr. Hazarika entered Cotton College for their Intermediate studies the same year. When my father sailed to Sorbonne in Paris for his Doctoral studies in “Probability & Statistics”, Dr. Hazarika sailed to America (“Markin Jukta Rastra” as he related to me in 1992) for his Doctoral studies at Columbia University, New York. His dissertation was titled, “Proposals for Preparing India's Basic Education to Use Audio-Visual Techniques in Adult Education”. Indeed, he proved that music and education goes hand in hand.
From an early childhood, I have heard his name and his songs as all my paternal uncles who stayed with us in the Gauhati University campus (Jalukbari) sang his songs or listened to “All India Radio”. This atmosphere created an appreciation of him from my early childhood. In fact, would see him often at Borjhar airport when we go to drop Deuta. They addressed each other as “Apuni” and I used to ask Deuta why such formality when you were classmates. I guess that was the norm in the 1940s. Since my childhood, I had attended several of his musical performances at the Gauhati University auditorium (Late Birinchi Kumar Barua PekhyaGriha) and his voice echoed throughout the campus.
As a teenager, adolescent and even now, his deep thinking songs inspired me as I sail the waves of life. His recitation of Parbati Prasad Barua’s song, “Manuhar baat bhondhua nathake” always motivated me. I will always remember him singing the Assamese translation of “Same boat brother” by Paul Robeson. Ekekhon naware jatri ami……. In fact whenever I drive by Princeton University and see the road named “Paul Robeson Way”, Bhupen Hazarika’s image come to my mind. He was inspired by Paul Robeson, Nelson Mandela, Jyotiprasad Agarwala, Bishnu Rabha and Phani Sarma.
I was very glad to host this great icon at our home in Bridgewater, New Jersey twice in the last century (1989 and 1992). My husband Niren Choudhury and Bhupen Hazarika were neighbors in Nizarapar, Guwahati. So when we invited him to our house-warming party (Griha Prabesh) and “Nam-Kirtan” in July, 1989, he gladly accepted the invitation. He had attended the AANA Convention in Toronto, Canada that year and was visiting USA too. We were thankful to Mahesh Kalita Dada who accompanied Bhupen Da to our home as he was a guest at Kalita’s house in Princeton Junction, New Jersey. He was a spiritual being and admired the Sankari tradition that we followed in our home in distant USA. He went back and told about this event to our relatives and neighbors in Nizarapar. In 1992, we hosted Bhupen Hazarika at our home for a week when he came for the Assamese Convention in Chicago, Illinois. During that time, we became very close and were showered by his words of wisdom. He is a very intelligent, very observant, very systematic and a very soft-spoken gentleman. “Tekhator kathat mou barase”. He was very fond of fish and prepared few fish dishes while I was a work at AT&T. He would take a plate and arrange the ingredients (Haldi, namak, jeera, jolokia etc) as he started the cooking process. It was very interesting to watch him fry the fish and designate which pieces are for whom. The big fish was for the head of the household and the tail for me.
In reciprocation of his fatherly love, I took him to see the AT&T’s Network Operations Center in my office in Bedminster, New Jersey. He was amazed to see the huge screen and control center with worldwide telecommunications traffic. He became very interested in knowing about telecommunications engineering, network traffic, integrated circuits etc. I was impressed by his intellectual curiosity which makes him unique amongst people of Performing Arts. He kept on saying to the Assamese people, “Moonmoone mook sanghatic bastu dekhuwale, tai thakehe akarar dore, tai AT&Tit kam kora prothom Asamiya suwali.” When we fly from Newark to Chicago for the Assamese Convention, he was delighted to ride on the stretch limousine to the airport and he kept on saying, “Moonmoone mook limousinot uthale”. In fact, it was also a business trip for me, so the limousine was part of my business trip to Chicago.
He kept on admiring the American kids of Assamese heritage and the dedication of their parents in raising them. He advised me to raise our daughter with great care. He regretted not spending enough time with his own son Tej when he was a child. In fact Tej Hazarika, his wife Candace and son baby Sage Akash came to our house to meet with Dr. Hazarika. Bhupen da saw his grandson for the first time in 1992 and gave me some money to buy gift for his grandson Sage. Father and son were re-united since then. I also met his estranged wife Priyamvada P. Hazarika and sister Rose who came to attend his music programs in New Jersey. As far as I remember, Priyamvadaben lived and worked in Canada and USA. She is a very accomplished lady. Tej is very polite and soft spoken. I am glad to hear that Tej and Sage are in Assam during this time of grief and mourning.
It was a privilege to be part of Bhupen Hazarika’s music program at the Hindu temple & Cultural Society in Bridgewater, New Jersey. He was accompanied by Bidip Sinha on tabla and I was asked to stand on the stage turning the pages of his music book (all hand-written on aged brown paper). He looks at the book when he forgets some of the words. He was very tense on the day of his music program, eating only clove/long and honey to preserve his voice. He seemed to be very short-tempered on stage. He kept on practicing on the harmonium since the morning and would eat a heavy meal of fish curry only after his performance. What a sadhana even during his advanced age, preparing well for his audience? This makes him a great musician. I still remember him singing the lyrics of Azan Fakir, Paul Robeson’s “We are in the same boat brother” etc., which was enjoyed by all the Assamese, Bengali and the Bangladeshi communities in New Jersey.
Last night, when I heard that he will be cremated in the Gauhati University Campus, Jalukbari, I was excited. I telephoned the Vice-Chancellor Dr. Okhil Kumar Medhi and admired him for honoring the legend by giving the plot in Jalukbari Square for cremation, which was near my childhood home. I requested him to keep the foot-prints of Dr. Hazarika on a gamocha that could be framed and hanged in the Administrative building of GU and may later transferred to the proposed museum. I was honored to hear that my wishes came true and his red sindoor footprints were preserved on a gamocha, the token of Assamese culture.
This is my last Namaskar to Dr. Bhupen Hazarika.
May your soul rest in peace!
Bestow your blessings on the Assamese people for generations to come……..
