My brother, my mentor, Assam’s rockstar: Zubeen Da

This is possibly the hardest happening to do. To constitute astir a elder brother, mentor, and 1 of the finest singers of our time. My authorities of Assam has been successful mourning for 4 days, with thousands gathering to bid him farewell.

Everyone seems to person a Zubeen Da story. This is mine.

Offices successful Assam person remained shut, and the metropolis is filled with photos of him laden with flowers, speakers blaring his music. Until September 23, an water of radical headed towards a stadium wherever his assemblage remained successful a solid coffin for radical to wage homage.

What made him specified a phenomenon? Zubeen Garg played 12 instruments and sang adjacent to 40,000 songs successful implicit 40 languages. He did not shy distant from lasting up to ministers and politicians, challenging them astatine property conferences and interviews. He identified arsenic apolitical, caste-less and a socialist. Outside of the labels, helium was 1 with the masses, a people’s champion.

The root story

Zubeen Da, arsenic helium is affectionately known successful Assam, near his location successful Jorhat connected a bicycle, balancing a keyboard, and made his mode to Guwahati for his higher education. He rapidly became fashionable for his dependable astatine his college, B Borooah, winning aggregate inter-college singing competitions. He yet released his archetypal medium — Anamika (1992), an instant hit. A fashionable fable says that Zubeen Da walked retired of the assemblage halls without penning his exams, leaving down a acrophobic principal, lone for Zubeen to beryllium invited backmost arsenic the main impermanent adjacent year.

In 1995, my begetter who was caput of the Assam Association successful Mumbai got upwind of this young prima from Assam who was making waves. He took a liking to Zubeen Da, and asked him to commencement performing annually astatine Bihu festival. My earliest representation with him is from 1998 erstwhile my parent was performing astatine a Bihu lawsuit successful Santacruz and Zubeen Da rushed up connected signifier to bash a unrecorded jam with her, playing the harmonium arsenic she sang. I had ne'er seen thing rather similar it.

I would conscionable him adjacent lone successful 2010, by which clip helium was a superstar, having made a people successful Bollywood with fashionable songs similar ‘Ya Ali’ produced by Pritam and ‘Subah Subah’ produced by Vishal-Shekhar wherever Shah Rukh, Arjun Rampal, and Hritik Roshan vibed to Zubeen Da’s dependable connected the streets of London. Several songs of his became regular features connected Channel V and MTV.

There was thing astir the mode Zubeen Da gave 1 an audience. I’m definite that everyone who has met him volition archer you the same. No other airs, the aforesaid accessibility, and a immense dose of emotion and humility.

When the Assamese movie Industry was connected a downward spiral, Zubeen Da pulled each the stops and soon go cardinal to its revival. He dedicated the adjacent decennary to making visually appealing films and euphony videos, touring extensively, and moving to make a instauration wherever upcoming artists similar maine could flourish. The unrecorded euphony Industry successful Assam thrived due to the fact that of him.

Diving headfirst into the wild

Zubeen Da ever had a greenish thumb and enjoyed interacting with the literal and metaphorical chaotic side. To him, enactment with Nature was indispensable and the spaces that surrounded him were often green. During the pandemic erstwhile I was location successful Assam, Zubeen Da and I were driving backmost from a sprout successful his car erstwhile I spotted bags of fertilizers and boxes of seeds. He was readying to sow vegetables successful his workplace compound.

He besides had a favored stork. There indispensable beryllium an root communicative of however helium recovered it and wherefore helium took to it but I bash not person it today. I bash cognize that helium would provender it food adjacent though it disrupted his respective signaling sessions. He often booked the workplace retired for longer to guarantee that the signaling could beryllium done contempt these interruptions. He besides kept a favored monkey that would often slumber adjacent to him. The monkey, which was recovered successful the wood during 1 of Zubeen Da’s sojourns, was aboriginal released into the wild.

Discourse astir polity

There were adjacent to 20 radical extracurricular the workplace mundane to instrumentality pictures with him, question help, instrumentality his counsel. Some would request assistance with rent, idiosyncratic had a aesculapian problem, Zubeen Da wouldn’t accidental nary to anyone. He was our Robin Hood — this Pablo Escobar fig with a large heart.

Music that lives on

The program was to collaborate with Zubeen Da but that ne'er happened arsenic I was making English Music astatine the time. He said “but Rahul, my radical privation Assamese music. When you are acceptable for that fto maine know.” Most of my evenings, hence, were spent watching him record. We would speech astir Guitars, The Peaky Blinders, occidental artists helium liked, what helium plans to works adjacent successful his workplace garden.

Sometimes the workplace would beryllium filled with radical sitting connected the floor. He would beryllium connected a stool similar the expansive aged main of a colony with maine sitting close adjacent to his feet and helium erstwhile said, “Rahul I ne'er had a son, beryllium my son.” While I tried to process the value of that statement, helium looked backmost up astatine the gathering, entertaining them with his stories.

The adjacent mates of years I got engaged trying to marque my people successful Assamese euphony truthful helium would instrumentality maine earnestly and I americium blameworthy of not keeping successful interaction similar I should have.

The past clip I met Zubeen Da was successful 2024, backstage astatine the Rongali Festival successful Guwahati wherever we were some performing successful the aforesaid enactment up. I had conscionable won my archetypal National Award for Best Folk opus of the twelvemonth with ICONYK (my producer) for my Assamese opus ‘Toradoi’.

After our performance, erstwhile we were successful the greenish room, we heard that Zubeen Da had arrived backstage. Dressed successful a reddish vest, achromatic shorts and his signature hat, helium greeted maine truthful warmly it was similar like nary clip had elapsed betwixt our past meeting. That day, helium schooled a set connected stage, teaching the performing creator to sing the notes close successful beforehand of a delighted assemblage of 10,000 people. Then, helium took comic boomerangs with us. That was the benignant of antheral helium was.

We were owed to conscionable the adjacent time but that did not happen. I volition hence transportation the value of not having met him that time for the remainder of my life.

Zubeen Da walked truthful that the adjacent procreation of artists similar america from Assam could run. He was a rockstar successful its truest consciousness and they don’t marque em’ similar him anymore.

Rahul Rajkhowa is an Assamese singer-songwriter, rapper, and a teacher of past and arts.