[Assam] Zubeen spellbinds music lovers at Octave 2006

[Pradip Kumar Datta]

  http://o3.indiatimes.com/barnali/archive/2006/03/25/564436.aspx#Comments
  Zubeen spellbinds music lovers at Octave 2006    
    In the backdrop of the Ministry of Tourism going full steam ahead to promote the Northeast, Octave 2006, an eight-day festival at the Pragati Maidan showcasing the region’s diverse and rich heritage, couldn’t have taken place at a more opportune time. Needless to say, the cultural extravaganza, flagged off by our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself, was a big draw from day one










 Whether it was screening of award-winning films, literary symposiums, poetry reading or book and art exhibitions, the fiesta strived to touch every aspect of the beautiful region’s vibrant culture and heritage. But the icing on the cake was the live performance of Zubeen Garg, popular singer from Assam, who took to the stage along with other well-known singers from the Northeast on this lovely full moon day









 Manali was covering the event for ‘Northeast Sun’ and this made it easier for me to recognise the other Northeast singers who are well-known names in their respective
 states. Reuben Mashangga from Manipur had everyone in splits with his humour-filled performance. Lou Majaw from Shillong rocked and his performance would have given Bon Jovi a run for his money. Even Te Tei Ralte from Mizoram, towards the fag end of the show charmed the audience








 But the most awaited performance of the evening was undoubtedly that of Zubeen’s as 95 per cent of the gathering at the open air stadium seemed Axomiyas. Indrani’s a big big fan of Zubeen. My last minute call to her to let her know about the programme met with the reply, “Moi eyate bohi asu” (I’m sitting here itself) and I wasn’t surprised at all! The crowd was an amalgam of the youth and old alike, though students seemed to outnumber everyone else









 Zubeen took to the mike accompanied by his musicians and one will have to add here that his new hairdo (he has chopped off his long girl-like tresses) made it difficult to recognise the singer. I’m not too ardent a fan of the singer,
 but I’m sure everyone else who’s heard him sing will agree that his songs do touch one’s heart. He started off with a prayer song followed by songs from his latest album ‘Jantra’. With requests pouring in from all quarters, he picked songs randomly from his old kitty like Maya, Anamika and of course his Hindi number from ‘Kaante’








. While the songster sang, most of the people in the crowd swayed to his tunes and what could have been a more fitting finale to his performance than Bihu Geets. A troupe of Bihu dancers performed on stage and what a lovely sight to behold, moreso for someone like me who has missed out on the Bihu functions back home continuously for the past four years








 In the true Axomiya spirit, half the crowd got up from their seats and danced to the tune of Zubeen’s Bihu songs right below the stage. Amidst all the hubbub, what caught my attention was a spot-the-odd-one-out Sardar replicating the other dancers, and in the process giving us more
 reasons to laugh and cheer about










 . Truly the show was well worth the visit. In retrospect, everything went well, the festival was a success story but I think it could have been a bigger success had the organisers taken care of certain aspects like more publicity, rescheduling of events (for instance the screening of Jahnu Barua’s film ‘Konikar Ramdhenu’ coincided with Zubeen & the other NE singers’ programme. I’m sure it would have put any Axomiya in two minds whether to listen to Zubeen or watch the movie), etc. Still one can’t negate anything from the festival and I’m certainly looking forward to more of such events in the days to come. 
   

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