After the demise of great singer Jagjit Singh, tragedy strikes again and India loses Bhupen Hazarika, another worthy son of her. Known as the 'bard of Brahmaputra', Bhupen had endeared himself with every music lover in India and beyond. He sang in Assamese, Bengali and Hindi to create a niche for himself.

Bhupen was born on Septemebr 8, 1926 and passes away on November 5, 2011. His eight decades of life have been studded with achievements. A child prodigy he sang for a film at the age of 12. Not only in the field of music and arts, he was a promising academician; he did his B.A. (1944) and M.A. (1946) from BHU and Ph. D. (1952) from Columbia University.

He has received every possible awards in India for his outstanding performance in many fields like film making, direction, besides music, composition and poetry. He is considered as the soul of Northeast India. Besides many state awards in Assam, Bengal and other states, the prominent national awards he received are Padmasri (1977), Padma Bhushan (2001), Dada Saheb Phalke award (1992) and Sangeet Natak Academy award (2009).

However, more than these awards, Bhupen had won million hearts by rendering immortal numbers that 'dwelt on themes of love, nature and varied hues of human emotions.' He shall remain alive so long the folk songs live in the lips of his country men. I am deeply pained by his demise and share the sorrow with the bereaved family and pray his soul to rest in peace.