Zubeen Garg's Mayabini…a nostalgia that stays…

Written by: Sudeshna Chowdhury

He reminds us of Bonphool, a species that is difficult to tame.

Species, because he was one of a kind. An undomesticated, untamed life curated with un-care and stubborn independence, heedless of any glorification, full of chutzpah, left us unannounced, creating a gaping hole that probably only time can heal.

His spirit sprouted from the hills and, like the hills, he gave it all way.

For the uninitiated, he was a deviant of sorts. Choosing to stay in his skin over metamorphosing into a commercial singer that would surely have earned him fame and money.

The allure of Bollywood could not motivate him to shift his base to Mumbai; instead, he stayed in Assam, the spirited land of his ancestors, from where he and his songs sprouted.

The usual cliches of son of the soil, Assam’s son, legend have found their way into social media, but for someone like me who has sprouted from that part of the world, too, he represented strength and belief. He wrote in his language, for his people, from his region, and lent cadence to the beauty of the place.

He did not defect.

That respect he had for his people without cultivating any kind of visceral hatred for others has levitated his stature and imprinted him into our hearts.

His songs will continue to breathe life into the next generation of artistes and maybe inspire some of us to hold on to the remnants of what we are, where we are from, and pay homage to our collectively cultivated civilizational gains.

His embrace of other cultures was equally heartwarming, which is why his sudden passage into immortality is being mourned across different states of the country.

Zubeen also showed us that being an artiste is about power, and the life of an artiste doesn’t need to be stifling. Unlike well-known singers who steer away from politics and protests and embalm themselves by refusing to speak up and exert their influence, Zubeen refused to play safe. He had things to say, and he said them with great elan.

There are those who command reverence and awe, and those you can only think of watching from afar, but Zubeen was one amongst us, but he had his space clearly drawn out.

He mapped our hearts with emotions and laced them with passion. Of joy and loss, of disarming beauty and love, his song encompassed almost every tangible feeling that one goes through in life.

He is perhaps one of those few artistes, we became bigger than his songs. His fame transgressed his music and has acquired immortality that will outlive his audience, for eons.