 |
| Zubeen Garg (1972-2025) |
Nuru Karim
welcomes Zubin da
as bamboos sigh at GAU.
To sing-apore
was not your destiny
O son of Tura
Ya Ali for the ULFA
Sanjoy Ghose disappears,
Wax Eloquent in Jorhat
Glancing at the Brahmaputra.
Wrapped in a gamosa
on fields of green,
(Assam-Goa
24 September 2025)
Notes
-Nuru Karim: architect of Guwahati International Airport (GAU). The airport is designed with bamboo.
-Sing: Zubeen was to sing for a North East event at Singapore on 20th September 2025, but he passed on in a scuba diving incident on the previous day.
-Tura: Zubeen was born in Tura, Meghalaya.
-Majuli: riverine island in Upper Assam in the Brahmaputra river. A song on this.
-Ya Ali: Zubeen had been warned not to sing Hindi songs by the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA). But he sang in Hindi anyway. Ya Ali from the Bollywood movie Gangster (2006) made him a pan-Indian sensation.
-Sanjoy Ghose (1959-1997): an activist who worked in Majuli. He was abducted by the ULFA on 4 July 1997. His body was not found.
-Wax Eloquent: The poet was flown to Jorhat to read his poems for this festival in 2007.
-Gamosa: Traditional Assamese embroidered cotton cloth in pink colour.
-Dhumuhar . . . neson: Chorus from his song 'Mayabini' (2001). Zubeen wished that this song should be sung when he dies. One translation of the chorus is 'With the storm I have been dancing for many eras.'
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Photo courtesy: TOI. Updated 29/9/25
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