SINGER FROM INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT-3 (DR.BHUPEN HAZARIKA)

If man wouldn’t think for man

With a little sympathy

Tell me who will– comrade.

If we repeat history

If we try to buy

Or sell humanity

Won’t we be wrong –comrade?

If the weak

Tide across the rapids of life

With your help

What do you stand to lose?

If man does not become man

A demon never will

If a demon turns more human

Whom shall it shame more–comrade?

This is the English translation of Assamese song “Manuhe Manuhar Babe” (for man), composed in 1964 by Dr. Bhupen Hazarika ,the singer, the poet, the politician, the journalist, the lyricist, the musician, the filmmaker and the writer from Assam, the north-eastern state of India. Whereas he had been a legend in Eastern India for decades, it was his compositions for the film Rudali which won Hazarika recognition across the Subcontinent. The waterways of Assam have been the source of inspiration for Hazarika’s songs and lyrics all these years. “The Brahmaputra is the lifeline of Assam,” he says. One of his notable collaborations for Doordarshan was Luit Kinare (by the banks of the Luit), a mosaic of ordinary tales that is both cheerful and poignant. (The Luit merges with the Dibang in Arunachal pradesh to create the mighty sea-like expanse of the river Brahmaputra.)

Few know that, during his time at Columbia University, Hazarika was a friend of Paul Robeson, the great black American singer, actor and civil rights activist. Robeson’s passionate crusade for social justice and black pride has permeated Bhupenda’s own worldview. Inspired greatly by Robeson’s powerful rendition of the song “Ole Man River”, Hazarika created his own moving ode to the Brahmaputra.

He is a communicator of romance, passion, universalism and humanism. He has gathered awards aplenty: for his contribution to cinema, to music, to culture, and to the vigor he reinstalled in the Assamese, jostling them awake through song, and forcing them to rethink old attitudes. In 1994, he was awarded the Dada Saheb Phalke Award, the highest award in India for contribution to films.

I find striking similarities in his voice and rendering style with those of famous Spanish singer Julio Iglesias. Now kindly listen to these two songs one by Dr.Bhupen Hazarika and the other by Julio Iglesias and you too will note the similarities.

GANGA BY DR.BHUPEN HAZARIKA.

BOLEROS BY JULIO IGLESIAS.

Now I leave to me friend to justify my assumption about Dr.Bhupen Hazarika and Julio Iglesias. But for me Dr.Bhupen Hazarika is the Julio Iglesias of the east and Julio Iglesias is the Dr.Bhupen Hazarika of the west.

Now listen to some beautiful numbers by Dr.Bhupen Hazarika including the famous song “dil hoom hoom kare” of “Rudali”.

“DIL HOOM HOOM KARE” OF “RUDALI”

DR. BHUPEN HAZARIKA AND LATE PRATIMA PANDEY BARUAH SINGING TOGETHER THE FAMOUS PAUL ROBESON SONG "WE ARE IN THE SAME BOAT BROTHER".

SOME BENGALI AND ASSAMESE SONGS.