While growing up, Dr. Bhupen Hazarika’s songs were not something we simply listened to. They were a part of our household—playing in the background, accompanying ordinary mornings, conversations and quiet moments. His voice somehow became part of the soundscape of growing up in Assam.
What I remember most is how his songs would take us into a different world- a world we had grown up in. He would sing about a river, a boatman, a village or a distant place, and we could see all of them at once.
That, to me, was the magic of Bhupen Da.
Born in Sadiya in 1926, Dr. Bhupen Hazarika went on to become a singer, composer, lyricist, filmmaker and cultural icon whose work travelled far beyond Assam. In one of his iconic songs, he wrote:
মই লুইতৰ পৰা মিছিছিপি হৈ ভলগাৰ ৰূপ চালোঁ
অটোৱাৰপৰা অষ্ট্রিয়া হৈ পেৰিছ সাবটি ল’লোঁ...
Translation: From the Luit to the Mississippi, I have witnessed the beauty of Volga, and from Ottawa to Austria, I have embraced Paris to my heart.
Throughout his lifetime, he has received numerous awards and honours, including the Padma Shri (1977), the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1992) and the Padma Bhushan (2001). He was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2012 and the Bharat Ratna in 2019.
But his legacy is much more personal than a list of awards or achievements. His music carried Assam with it—the Brahmaputra, its people, its struggles and its emotions. Yet somehow, those stories never felt limited to one place. They spoke about humanity in a way that anyone could understand.
মানুহে মানুহৰ বাবে
যদিহে অকনো নেভাবে
অকনি সহানুভূতিৰে
ভাবিব কোনেনো কোৱা সমনীয়া?
Translation: If a man does not think a little for his fellow man,
with little sympathy, tell me, what will happen?
Bhupen Da passed away in 2011, but his voice never really left.
For me, that is what makes his legacy so special. Some artists become part of history. Others become part of people's homes. Bhupen Hazarika became both. And perhaps that is why, even today, when his songs play, they don't just bring back a melody.
They bring back a world.
