Unprecedented scenes in Guwahati as lakhs bid farewell to Assam’s icon: ‘No one can be like Zubeen da’

Zubeen, a singer, songwriter, actor, filmmaker and one of Assam’s biggest cultural icons, died Friday afternoon in Singapore, while he was there for the Northeast India Festival. He will be cremated on September 23, and official state mourning will continue till then.

The news of his death triggered a spontaneous outpouring of collective grief, and as people awaited the return of his remains, Guwahati city turned into a living memorial for him.

The city came to a standstill, with shops and establishments pulling down their shutters in mourning, and nearly every neighbourhood and lane, and even many homes, setting up memorials — some very elaborate, others sombre. The clear high notes of his distinctive voice have been everywhere, with his songs being played from early in the morning until late into the night. One song in particular has turned into a hymn, played at every memorial and sung by gatherings of fans in different locations — the soulful ‘Mayabini Ratir Bukut’ with its soaring chorus “dhumuhar xote mur, bohu jugore nason (I have danced with the storms for many ages)”. Not just Guwahati, similar scenes have played out across the state. Zubeen had once famously said in a concert that it was his “fantasy” that all of Assam would sing this song upon his death.

The days of mourning reached their peak on Sunday morning, when his remains finally arrived at Guwahati airport at around 6.30 am, where they were received by his wife, Garima Saikia Garg. Fans had already gathered overnight at the airport and thronged the convoy accompanying the vehicle carrying his body as it made its way on the 25-km route to the family’s home in Kahilipara.

What would normally have been a journey of less than an hour took over five hours as the convoy slowly navigated the massive crowds. The state had initially planned that after the family spent about an hour and a half with his remains, they would be taken to the Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah Sports Complex in Sarusajai by 9 am, where they were to remain till 7 pm for the public to pay their final tributes. However, the sheer magnitude of people looking for a glimpse of the star and the delay in the itinerary prompted Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to announce that the remains would be in the sports complex through the night and throughout Monday for public viewing.

Everyone’s Zubeen da

A refrain across Zubeen’s multitudes of fans as they look to bid him farewell has been, “There can never again be anyone like Zubeen da.” One of them is 30-year-old Suraj Choudhury, who was waiting at Sarusajai since Sunday morning.

“He brought everyone together, regardless of religion. Everyone was his fan. He was a unifying force, and this is never going to happen again. In a divided Assam, this is something we will never see again,” he said.

Zubeen had stormed into Assam’s music scene in 1992 with his debut album ‘Anamika’, and his rebellious youthful energy, paired with the proliferation of mass media in the same period, made him a superstar. As he continued to sing and produce thousands of songs until the very end, his superstardom and his persona continued to grow over the decades.

Like most people who grew up in Assam in the 1990s onwards, Choudhury, who now has a marketing job, says, “He was my childhood.”

“My father used to play his songs, and the first song that truly affected me was ‘Jantra’ (2004). I still listen to it. Even after we grew up, like Zubeen da had said, ‘Adda tu main’ (conversations are key). So my friends and I try to meet as much as possible after work, instead of staying inside our homes alone. And when we meet, we drink a little and listen to Zubeen. Last night, we were all in Ganeshguri, singing ‘Mayabini’ till 3.30 am,” he said.

For 24-year-old Subrot Gogoi, there is a Zubeen song for every emotion. “There is a quality in his songs that we can just relate to, dil se pura (straight from the heart). If you’re happy, he has songs for that emotion; if you’re sad, there are songs for that too; there is something if you want to party; there is something for Bihu,” he said.

But it is not just his music that explains the phenomenon that was Zubeen. He was known for his iconoclasm, his eccentricities, his tongue-in-cheek and blunt statements, his generosity, and the ease with which he wore his superstardom.

“He is not just a singer for us, even though ever since I have been aware of the existence of music, I have known Zubeen. Music itself is Zubeen,” said 25-year-old Sadhna Thakuria.

“He would give his jacket to a shivering poor person on the road. He himself had declared that he would give all his wealth to the people. When he would wake up, there would be people outside his house who would come with their problems, and he would listen to them and no one left empty handed. I don’t know of many people like that. He was of the people,” she said.

Most of those who gathered on Sunday for the send-off have their own story about Zubeen, as many people in Assam do.

And for 24-year-old Himangshu Haloi, it was the surprise of knowing that he could become friends with his icon. He works in the web team of a Guwahati restaurant that Zubeen advertised for.

“I grew up listening to his songs all day and night, and I never thought that I would even meet him. He was larger than life to me. But when I started working at the restaurant four years ago, Zubeen da would come from time to time, and he created a relationship with all of us. He would talk to everyone, he would have a drink at the bar, and he wouldn’t behave like he is such a great artist,” he said.

Haloi had been in his hometown Nalbari for the weekend, and left home on a motorcycle at 5 am to reach Sarusajai at 6.30 am to wait for Zubeen’s remains to arrive.

For 20-year-old Pranjali Talukdar, her Zubeen story begins the day after her college “freshers” event last year. “He was invited for the event, but he didn’t turn up that day. We had waited till 10 in the night, but he couldn’t come for whatever reason. But the next day, while we were in class, we got a huge surprise when he showed up. He is such a big star and he goes to so many events, but he thought of us and came the next day. There are many great singers, and many of whom we love, but no one can be like Zubeen da,” she said.

On Sunday, the Assam Cabinet decided to allot a 10-acre plot of land in Kamarkuchi village in Kamrup (Metropolitan) district for his cremation and the installation of a memorial.