O Ganga tum, Beheti ho q ?
June 16, 2008 – 10:20 amDr. Hazarika , a living legend with one of the evergreen public call ....
Dr. Hazarika , a living legend with one of the evergreen public call ....
Dr. Hazarika with Mrs. Pandey
June 16, 2008 – 10:17 amDr. Bhupen Hazarika and Late Pratima Pandey Baruah singing together the famous Paul Robeson song "We are in the same boat brother". [Dibrugarh Kendriya Rangali Bihu Utsav, 2000]
Manuhe Manuhar Babe
June 16, 2008 – 10:13 amA classic by Dr. Bhupen Hazarika, composed in 1964. Uploaded by Luit Chaliha.Manuhe Manuhar Babe, composed in 1964. It renders thus:If man wouldn't think for manWith a little sympathyTell me who will — comrade?It we try to buyOr sell humanityWon't we be wrong — comrade?If the weakTide across the rapids of lifeWith your helpWhat do you stand to lose?If man does not become manA demon never willIf a demon turns more humanWhom shall it shame more —comrade?
Magnum opus on legend – London launch for book on Bhupen Hazarika
June 14, 2008 – 10:32 amTelegraph News Bhupen Hazarika. A file picture Guwahati, June 13: One man’s obsession — and 15 years of a global search — has resulted in a magnum opus on none other than Assam’s music legend Bhupen Hazarika. Padmashree litterateur Surya Hazarika has come out with a three-volume compilation of Bhupen Hazarika’s entire writings that includes the lyrics of his songs, short stories, articles, travelogues and even an editorial the singer had written when he was the editor of a college magazine at Columbia University. The three-volume compilation will have a grand “international†release at a function in London on July 26. The 82-year-old singer is likely to attend the function. Surya Hazarika said his search for the balladeer’s write-ups took him to several parts of the world where Assamese people are based. “Many of the lyrics and write-ups are so rare and old that even the singer had forgotten about them. But we had made ...
Shantanu Moitra on Bhupen Hazarika
April 12, 2008 – 1:10 pmShantanu Moitra, Hindustan Times Mumbai, April 12, 2008 I first heard the song O Ganga on Doordarshan. Both, the song and the singer, had me glued to the TV screen. At the end of the song, a name flashed below the name of the song: Bhupen Hazarika. I was about 11 years old and the name stuck. O Ganga.. Jajabor.. Dil hun hun karen.. all these songs were a part of my growing up years. Durga Puja meant Bhupenda would release an album or two and I would buy them. My friends and I would listen to the songs, writing down the words, line by line. Then, we would sing the songs together the way they were meant to be. My first music system was inaugurated with Bhupenda's songs. I so badly wanted to hear him at a concert but the opportunity never came up. Years passed. I started composing jingles and had to ...
Bard of the Brahmaputra
October 25, 2005 – 11:30 amA few weeks ago, in the northern Assam town of Tezpur, a small group gathered in the elegant drawing room of the Goswamis, a prominent doctor couple, sipping drinks and listening to a long- time politician recount one of his favorite anecdotes in the Assam Assembly. The politician spoke of how a mischief-making MLA had got another opposition member, who was quite easy to sway, to challenge the then leader of the opposition, Dulal Baruah, in the House on a point of order. An outraged Baruah thundered at his backbencher to shut up, but the instigator was not done yet. “Press on a point of order,†he hissed at his wavering colleague. “Point of order!†yelled the member, now defiant, but once again stumped when the Speaker asked him, quite legitimately, “On what grounds?†He fumbled, but then ...
The Rediff Interview: Bhupen Hazarika
October 21, 2005 – 11:28 am'The negligence has been so long that people have lost all faith' It is believed that neglect is the reason for the prevailing insurgency. What is the primary reason for this neglect? It is due to the lack of leadership from the North-East. Those who got power have not utilised it properly. It was a colonisation principal. I understand in those good good days, traders from the North-East used to buy MPs in order to prevent them from improving communication. They ensured that there was always some bottleneck. So even the people of Assam are responsible... Yes. They have not improved their agriculture patterns. They work on paddy fields for six months and sit for the next six months. The people who have come from outside like Nepal, Bangladesh for various reasons are very poor, but are good agriculturists. They are also living and are ...
A Song and its Singer
October 20, 2005 – 10:52 amIt's the same voice: rich, highly emotive, beautifully timbered, sonorously resonant. The voice that age has not managed to fell or even to lay low, the voice that entire generations of true-blue Assamese boys and girls have grown up on, the voice that has had men and women across all social strata in our part of the world humming the tunes that he created, for several decades now. Only, this time, the format is different: MTV, no less! For a septuagenarian singer who cut his first scratchy album on a 78 RPM disc deep in the last century, when his voice was still a clear soprano, this is indeed a long haul. From shellac discs, through cassettes, to Compact Discs, from the lamp-lit auditoriums of his youth to satellite TV, the man has truly come a long way in his artistic journey. And yet, amazingly, in ...
The legend unplugged
October 9, 2005 – 11:25 amDo you recall your initial days as an aspiring composer in Mumbai? I came to Mumbai to work in the Indian People’s Theatre Movement (IPTA) with Salil Chowdhury, Balraj Sahni and other Marxist intellectuals. At IPTA I once again met Hemant Kumar whom I had met earlier. He took me around to meet all the big music directors and singers in Mumbai. I remember my first meeting with Lataji. She took one look at me and said, Jitna naam hai utni umar nahin hai (laughs). I had just returned from the United States and I had never seen her. I wanted her to ...
Dr. Bhupen Hazarika – Short Bio
June 9, 2004 – 11:28 amBhupen Hazarika Birth: 1926 Birthplace: Sadiya, Assam. Profession: Playback Singer, Bollywood. Family: wife Bhupenda, as he is lovingly called by millions, is recognised by many as one of the greatest cultural figures that Assam has produced, next only to Sri Sri Sankaradeva, the Vaishnavite preacher of the 15th century, and Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwalla, the early 20th-century singer-composer. Bhupenda is without doubt one of the greatest living cultural communicators of South Asia. He has swayed millions with the power and passion of his voice, and the message of universal brotherhood and humanism, which comes through in his songs. He has a genius for weaving a magical tapestry out of traditional Assamese music and lyrics, breathing new life into the language, synthesising old and new strands of music, and instilling a sense of pride among the inhabitants of the Brahmaputra valley. The waterways of Assam have been a the source of inspiration for Hazarika’s songs and lyrics ...
