It has become axiomatic that Assam is known for its tea, one-horned Rhinoceros and Zubeen Garg, by now. On the 19th of this September at around 2:30 PM, my friend from Guwahati sent me anxiously, few forwarded messages stating the criticality of the health condition of Zubeen Garg in Singapore. The death of the greatest hero of contemporary Assam was subsequently confirmed by the Chief Minister of Assam, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, stating his profound grief and shock through his official handle of the micro-blogging site of X. An era ends and a pall of gloom is cast pervasively and may be indefinitely, over Assam and the Assamese speaking people across the Indian states and within the diverse Assamese diaspora.

His death on September 19, 2025, was met with widespread mourning across the state of Assam, concretely solidifying the legacy of this legendary music and youth icon. The voice of the people fell silent, what a tragedy! Assam undergoes a shock, grief and yet, is preparing itself to let go of Zubeen Garg, the tallest of all her sons in every field, be it music, humanitarianism, philanthropy or the love for the land and its people. He would be remembered as one of the greatest integrative forces in a society, which tends to fall under the tendencies of societal and economic divisions in the name of social order. He categorically stated that he never believed in any caste or creed. The oneness in his mind was impeccably impactful, disdaining the divisions as negation of being a human in its approach.

In his final journey, 15 lakh people gathered at the Sarusajai Stadium to pay tributes to their icon, the fourth largest gathering to pay homage at someone’s death, in the world. Garg’s cremation was held on the 23rd of September in the outskirts of Guwahati near Sonapur, with full state honours. At the cremation ground, the crowd sang lines from one of his most popular songs – Mayabini. His wife Garima Saikia Garg sang, too, while weeping inconsolably at the loss of her husband.

It was the beginning of the 1990s, and as a child, I was still developing a taste in music. Hope and despair as binaries, were distant in my imagination of life’s understanding. My memory serves me well to recollect how on a rainy day, in the vicinity of my home, I heard a rare vocal music sung in a high pitch being played by one of the........

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