Fans break down as Bhupen Hazarika's body reaches Assam

'Bhupen Hazarika amar raho’ and other slogans rent the air as thousands of fans broke down when the body of the music maestro arrived from Mumbai Monday at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi Airport in Assam’s main city of Guwahati.

A sea of humanity waited patiently since early morning to have a last glimpse of the legend. The 85-year-old singer, composer, filmmaker and music director, passed away Saturday at a Mumbai hospital after prolonged illness.

People sobbed and cried inconsolably as the coffin was brought out of the aircraft before a ceremonial guard of honour was given with Governor J.B. Patnaik and Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi paying floral tributes.

“I am numbed and speechless,” the chief minister said in a choking voice even as tears welled up in his eyes.

The singer's companion of more than four decades and filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi and a few relatives and well wishers accompanied the coffin.

“I have lost my father, mentor and husband. He may have died, but his spirit would remain forever,” Lajmi said.

The hearse carrying the coffin, decorated with flowers, would stop at five specified locations before reaching his ancestral home at Nizarapara in Guwahati. The coffin would then be kept at the historic Judges Field, a public playground in the city, for fans to pay their last respects.

Thousands of people lined up the 26-km stretch from the airport to the city - some holding placards, photographs, wreaths and petals.

“The man with the golden voice may have died, but his voice would ignite the passions of generations to come,” said Samar Hazarika, the youngest of the nine siblings of the Dadasaheb Phalke award winner.

The last journey for the funeral takes place Tuesday with the rituals scheduled at 1 pm.

Hazarika began singing when he was just 10-years-old and churned out hits after hits numbering more than 1,500 until his health failed about two years ago. At 13, he sang about building a new Assam and a new India - the lyrics were his own, very powerful and contemporary.

A singer, lyricist, actor and filmmaker, Hazarika was born in 1926 in one of Assam’s remotest corners - Sadiya in the eastern district of Tinsukia. He grew up in the northern town of Tezpur and later went to Banaras Hindu University and completed his graduation and post-graduation in political science.

He studied with an aim to pursue a career as a lawyer in Assam, but destiny made him a singer.

In 1948, Hazarika went to the US on a scholarship to study mass communication at Columbia University, New York.

It was there that he got soaked in American folk music and later on that influenced him to bring in the folk elements in his songs - although he mostly sang the folk tunes of Assam.

Always sporting the trademark Nepali cap, the maestro's passion for music was unrelenting.