Tumi robe nirobe hridoye momo… Dr. Nipam Kumar Saikia There are many attributive adjectives for Dr Bhupen Hazarika: Axomratna, kalaratna, biswaratna, xudhakantha, ganaxilpi, etc. All these words are showered on him by the Assamese people on every occasion they pay tribute to him. Notwithstanding the fact that these words are reflective of love of the Assamese people for him, who is the only iconic figure of today’s Assam, none of the words, in my opinion, truly describes the ethos of Bhupen Hazarika. To me, the best word to describe him is xilpi (the artist). The objective of this article is to delve deep into Bhupen Hazarika as the metaphor for the artist, not an artist. Who is the artist? The artist of a particular generation is the only agent who tries to the best of his ability to wash the dust of lives off the souls of people. The artist creates a myth for his people to live by; he or she compels his or her people to feel the complexes of life in a particular setting under particular circumstances in a particular period so that they realize in the right perspective the path to progress. The artist thinks globally, but acts locally; he thinks, first of all for the men and, in the process, he thinks for the man . I would like to begin with my first impression about Bhupen Hazarika. When I was 12, there was a radio in our house as the only source of entertainment. At that age I used to send letters after letters to the director of Kalpataro pragramme of Guwahati All India Radio, requesting him to broadcast only Bhupen Hazarika’s songs. As the time for Kalpataru drew near I became more and more restless. I would sit in front of the radio much ahead of the time for the programme, expecting some of Bhupen hazarika’s marvelous scores in his highly emotive, beautifully timbered and sonorously resonant voice. At 12 I was enamoured of his voice. His voice speaks a language which faithfully communicates melody without the crutch of words. It was a voice that I have grown up on. And today I am enamoured of every aspects of Bhupen Hazarika’s songs. Today also I listen to his songs with the same passion. We can say that today crores of people throughout South Asia are enamoured of his voice. It is simply because Dr Bhupen Hazarika’s songs have universal appeal. They are always relevant, no matter when the lyrics were composed, no matter what language they have been later translated into, no matter what culture those songs are subsequently metamorphosed into. As a singer his popularity is always on the rise. To reach this stage he had to toil a lot. He had to overcome so many obstacles. In Assam particularly where there is Bhupen Hazarika there is always a controversy. First of all, at the beginning of his career he was made the subject of suspicion as to whether he was the original composer of his songs or not. How a boy of 15 can compose such powerful songs? Secondly, the authenticity of his Ph.D certificate was put to question when he was working as lecturer at Gauhati University. He got through all these acid tests with equanimity. And finally his love-hate relationship with politics has also made him no less controversial. It is known to all and sundry that he was born in Sadia, a very interior place of Assam, in 1926. They were six brothers and four sisters. His father, Neelkantha Hazarika was a school teacher. He grew up in a family of teachers and was always inclined towards journalism. He was the first child of his parents. Later his family had to move to Tezpur where Bhupen Hazarika attended Tezpur Government High School. As a child, he grew up listening to tribal music (according to his own confession). In its rhythm he saw his developing an inclination towards singing. According to him, he inherited his singing skills from his mother, who sang lullabies to him. As a singer, he has also been influenced by Vaishnav thinker and Assams most famous reformer, Sankardev, who is known for his devotional songs. He grew up in a musical environment. He was fortunate enough to get the company of Jyotiprasad Agarwala and Bishnuprasad Rabha, two cultural icons of Assam, who not only taught him real music but also moulded his mind. Bent on writing songs on hard facts of life, he at the beginning of his career adopted with his creative touch the tunes of folk music, be it Assamese or Punjabi. Very soon he became the darling of music lovers of North East. Then he started inventing his own tunes for his songs. In the course of time, he became one of the leading musicians of India. His lyrics brought poetic complexity. Almost all his songs are characterized by reflective tone. He is without the least doubt the most admired and influential singers of India. In the context of Indian music he is a trend-setter. He is a lyricist, composer and a singer per excellence. As a film-maker he is not very successful. He is a genius as a musician. In his songs he has shown an uncanny ability to mirror in everyday metaphors and toe-tapping rhythms all the aspects of human emotions through the imagery of North-East. Very adroitely he portrays the comedy of ordinary lives of North-East. But in every song there is always a universal touch. He is, at the same time, sensitive to the burning problems that tend to enshroud the society. He perfectly mirror them in his songs, but not at the cost of musical beauty. Whenever I get opportunity to travel other states of India I always make an unofficial survey of the popularity of Dr Bhupen Hazarika as an artist just to satiate my indomitable curiosity to know to what extent he can mesmerize with his select few poetic lyrics, transcreated into Hindi, rendered in his magical voice, the lovers of music in other parts of the country. The result of my survey so far is that with the exception of Assam and West Bengal the people of India know Dr. Bhupen Hazarika either as a singer or simply as a balladeer. He has already sung almost all his songs in Bengali language. But I honestly feel that to call him simply a balladeer or a singer is the trivialization of his multifaceted talent as musician that our country has ever produced. Some of his songs are undoubtedly in ballad form. Like a traditional ballad, some of his songs tell stories of love, death, adventure etc. But in such songs also there is always a Bhupen Hazrika touch which is unique in its own way, nay it is autotelic. On the surface level a listener may think that the tunes of all his balladic songs are based on the folk music of Assam. This is not completely true. In adopting the tune of Assamese folk music for his balladic songs also he proves himself to be the most creative one. And, as has been pointed out, he had a great fondness for folk music, not only of Assam but also of the world. As a roving minstrel he keept roaming around the world. Wherever he went he tried to collect folk music of that place. But when he used them in his own songs he modified them. He never used them in a direct way. There is always his unique creative touch which gives a folk tune its most desired perfection. And the listeners listen and listen to such songs, but they never get tired of them. Even when he sings Bihu song they attain a newness. This newness is not for its own sake. Rather this newness makes the Bihu songs more touching and appealing. It is this newness which instantly takes the listener to the rhythm of Bihu, so much so that in the field, seen by his inward eyes, he starts dancing Bihu irrespective of the seasons. In other words, this newness is Bhupen Hazarikaness. In one single song of Bhupen Hazarika there can be interplay of several tunes, be it the tune of Assamese or Punjabi folk music or his own. All the tunes are perfectly fused in to one. This harmonious fusion of several tunes in to one is the very essence of Bhupen Hazarikaness. In Assam , West Bengal and Bangladesh People love his songs because in them Dr. Hazarika holds up to his listeners a faithful mirror of life . More importantly his songs inspire the highly intellectual class and the commonest class alike. He wrote songs on patriotism, communism, against exploitation, poverty, class struggle, struggle of life, nature, love , death ,physical love, communal harmony, children and in what not? But in all these songs there is always a note of optimism. Though in all his songs there is always a strong message for the society, they are fist of all perfect songs. There is historical awareness in his lyrics. Dr. Bhupen Hazarika can write, give tune and sing a passionate love song or a patriotic song or a tragic song with equal intensity. In other words, Bhupen Hazarika stands for perfection. Even when he sings songs written by other poets they also get an extra ordinary scale, a Bhupen Hazarika scale. Though in his songs we get a vivid picture of the NorthEast India, the then big Assam, his most cherished goal is to show the picture of life in broader perspective. He is a humanist out and out. With the help of North-East imagery he sings for humanity. But he also believes that to respect all mothers of the world, first of all, he must respect from the very core of his heart his own mother. Like a skylark he flies higher up in to the sky and like a skylark he never forgets his native land. Dr. Bupen Hazarika’s mother tongue is Assamese. He first wrote and sang his songs in his Assamese language. But he is the universal artist. In one of his most popular songs, Bistirna Parore, he scolds the mighty river Brahmaputra for her apathy towards the terrible sufferings of the people on her two banks. Here Dr. Hazarika uses the river Brahmaputra as the symbol of an exploiter. The people on her banks are poor and illiterate. They are all the time in the midst of encircling gloom. So he asks the mighty river of Assam with all his angers that if she is the real offspring of Brahma (the creator) she simply can not remain silent towards the pitiable plight of the people on her banks. In the Hindi and the Bengali version of the same song he scolds the mighty river Ganga in the same way. Inspired by Paul Robeson’s most famous song “Old man river”, Dr. Hazarika’s cry in the song is the cry of the people who are being exploited. And everywhere in this world there are exploiters and exploited. This is a song against exploitation and it is a universal song out and out. And the tune of the song is so appropriate that instantly it enters in to the heart of any ordinary listener. And the listener will definitely be motivated by the song. Thus apart from getting musical pleasure, listeners get from Dr. Bhupen Hazarika’s song a mind-blowing experience. In another song, Moi Eti Jajabar (I am a rover) he calls himself as a rover who can never think of settling at one place. But unlike other rovers he has a specific purpose. As a rover he has seen lines of sky-touching palaces as well as thousands of homeless people. He cannot tolerate this terrible division created by men among themselves. He is in desperation to spread the message of humanity to all people of the world. He wishes he could champion the cause of have-nots. Thus it is again a universal song. Then again the listeners enjoy this song for its musical beauty also. In another song, Endhar Katir Nishate (At a Dark Wintry Night), a child is crying for food at a winter night. The mother is utterly helpless. During the whole day she kept begging. But all her labour went in vain. She had to come back to her tiny hut empty-hand. Her breasts have dried up. At last the child stops crying. At dawn the mother finds him dead. This disaster makes the mother a rebel. She vows to rid not only herself, but all the helpless mothers of the world of poverty so that no child dies of starvation in the years to come. In the same way he has written more than three hundred songs on different aspects of life. What sets Dr. Bhupen Hazarika apart as a musician is not that his songs are fundamentally different in kind from others songs. What makes him the greatest musician is, quite simply, the fact that he writes, gives appropriate tune in accordance with the themes and sings his songs so much better than anyone else. His use of language in his songs must be recognized as of central importance. Every word in his song is precisely selected. That is why most of his songs will surely remain as beautiful poetry. To make the themes of his song come to life he uses appropriate imagery in his songs. He gives the faithful portrayal of the fundamental qualities of human nature common to all ages and countries in his songs. Finally we must say that Bhupen Hazarika has a magical voice. The rendition of his songs in his inimitable baritone voice can easily attract the lovers of music irrespective of language and countries. The Ph.D. in mass communications from Columbia, Berlin’s Performing Artiste Award, the President’s Award for best music director, the Padma Shri for his contribution to the cause of national integration, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Shankardev Award and Dada Shaheb Phalke Award are all his bouquets which, I think, are not the chief ingredients that have made him famous. Without all these awards also he has to be regarded as jewel of India. Bhupen Hazarika has become very much popular in the whole of India with his Dil Hum Hum Kare song from the film Rudali of which he is the music director. This was originally an Assamese patriotic song for the Assamese movie Maniram Dewan. In the Hindi version made by Guljar the song has become a romantic one. The tune of the song is without the least doubt one of the best of Bhupen Hazarika. But for the sake of honesty I must say that Bhupen Hazarika has some other songs which are far better than this one. His other popular Hindi songs are Dola Ho Dola, Yeh Kiski Sada Hai, Us Din Ki Baat Hai, Kitne Hi Sagar, Haan Aawara Hoon, Main Aur Mera Saya, Ek Kali Do Pattiyan, Aalsi Sawan Badri Udaye, Oh Pardeshi Bandhu and Dunia Parayee. If he had started singing Hindi songs in the 50s and 60s by now he would have definitely become the greatest singer of India. Isn’t Bhupen Hazarika the artist? I would like to pay tribute to him by quoting the first two lines of a Rabindranath Tagore’s song: “Tumi robe nirobe Hridoye momo…”
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 12:05:52 +0000
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