Bhupen Hazarika back home in Assam, forever

Guwahati: A sea of humanity today thronged the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati to get a glimpse of the state’s cultural icon Bhupen Hazarika whose body was flown in from Mumbai. The 86-year-old Hazarika breathed his last on Saturday at Mumbai’s Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital due to multiple organ failure. Governor JB Patnaik and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi received the body and paid floral tributes to the doyen at the airport. [caption id=“attachment_125464” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Bhupen Hazarika. PTI”] [/caption] Film director Kalpana Lajmi, Hazarika’s partner of nearly 40 years, sister-in-law Manisha Hazarika and nephews Mayukh and Sandipon, Assam Culture Minister Pranati Phukan accompanied the maestro’s body. Hazarika’s body was taken in a procession to his residence at Nizarapar area in Guwahati. On the way to Nizarapar, the entourage briefly stopped over at Dharapur, Gauhati University, Maligaon, Bharalumukh and Dighalipukhuri. The body will be finally brought to the historic Judges Field to allow people to pay their tribute to the composer-singer, who had become legend in his lifetime. A sea of humanity lined all along the 25km route from the airport to Hazarika’s residence at Nizarapar area with people showering flower petals, offering wreaths and the traditional Assamese ‘gamosa’ (a piece of cloth used for bath) on the cortege carrying the gilt-edge brown casket. Songs of the music maestro played along the entire route with the administration putting up public address system all over the city. Portraits of Hazarika lined the entire stretch as the truck from Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport took nearly six hours to reach his house. A disciplined and organised crowd chanted ‘Bhupenda amaar majot hodai amar thakibo’ (Bhupenda will be always immortal for us), ‘Bhupendar bina Axomor naksa nohoi’ (There can be no map of Assam without Bhupenda) among other eulogies. His only son Tez Bhupen Hazarika will arrive in Guwahati Tuesday morning from New York to perform the last rites. The state government has declared a state holiday on Tuesday in honour of the Dadasaheb Phalke awardee. Hazarika’s last rites would be held at the banks of the Brahmaputra, the river the balladeer loved and eulogised in many of his musical works, literary and cinematic creations. PTI