His hands tremble as points to members in the audience and he fails to remember lines of his own songs, but neither his voice nor his enthusiasm seem to have been affected by time.
All of his 69 years, Bhupen Hazarika or Bhupenda, as he is lovingly called by millions, was in the capital recently for a very noble cause.
“I am putting up a concert where I will perform to raise funds for the completion of the Srimanta Sankardeva Bhavan here in the capital. The institute will promote the cultural arts of Assam,” he said. “I feel that Assam’s culture has a distinct flavour of its own.”
Of his sudden disappearance from the music scene, he says, “I have not been keeping well and so I took the whole of last year off to rest. But now I am back. I also have a couple of offers from Bollywood but I am still thinking about them.”
If despite the illness his enthusiasm surprises you, his rational take on the music scenario of today will leave you gaping. “I find no fault in today’s generation singing the rock and pop music. Eventually, they also arise from classical music. The notes are universal,” he says. “The youth must have an ear for good music. As long as that is there, we have nothing to worry about. All the same the youth must stay in touch with their roots as the touch of the roots alone can make a modern society modern.”
His brief foray into politics still makes him uncomfortable. “I have left everything that even smells of politics behind me,” he says. “I have decided to spend the rest of my life busy with my art world.”
His concert is named Legend’s Nite: From Brahmaputra to Mississippi. Ask him about his path to the future and he breaks into his famous lines, Moi eti jajabor…

Published in Hindustan Times Next on October 21, 2005