Guwahati: Veteran journalist Ravish Kumar has penned an emotional tribute to Assam’s cultural icon Zubeen Garg, describing the singer’s farewell as a once in a lifetime moment of mourning that transcended boundaries.
Reflecting on the past few days, Kumar noted that he had never witnessed such a massive outpouring of grief in his lifetime. “The people of Assam are singing Zubeen’s songs as his body is engulfed by flames. Nobody wants to talk about anything else, nobody wants to hear about anything else,” he observed.
He stressed that Zubeen received a kind of farewell that no singer before him had ever been given. “The people did not bid him goodbye; instead, they placed him permanently in their hearts,” Kumar wrote, adding that the void left behind must be reflected upon not only in Assam but also in Delhi and Mumbai.
Kumar highlighted that Zubeen’s loss is not confined to Assam. “His grief extends to neighbouring states and even across borders. People in Bangladesh are writing, crying, mourning. What Zubeen achieved worldwide-the trust, the love was unparalleled,” he said.
He further remarked that anyone who had not seen the farewell could never truly understand the meaning of grief. “If you have not seen this farewell, you cannot know what mourning really is. People across Assam have been asked to remain silent, but the reality is they are crying day and night.”
Saluting the legendary artist, Kumar concluded: “Such a great artist deserves this eternal remembrance.”