Assistant Professor
Dept. of Performing Arts
Majuli University of Culture
Email : shrabanikachangmai@gmail.com
Abstract :
Music has been an integral part of human life and has been functioning at various levels from prayer to entertainment. It has taken man to spiritual heights, it has eased the pressure of a man’s relentless labour and its has given expression to emotions and creativity. Music is supposed to be the most abstract art form available in the world. The place of painting and poetry comes after music in subsequent manner in terms of abstraction. There is no doubt that some amount of decay has set in as far as present day modern songs are concerned. In the past years, the artistes and music composers used to create the taste pattern of listeners. Modern songs of today are composed by pressure from outside rather than feelings from within. A music composer must have power to improvise and experiment with different notes and tunes of hearing music. There should be depth and conception of inner beauty for the high standard of composition. Bhupen Hazarika (1926- 2011) an artist of multi-faceted talents and an epoch making singer is the creator of a good number of significant songs. Primary subjects of such songs are man and the society. He was a true pan-Indian artist whose creativity transcended borders, language, and cultures. This paper explores the philosophy of beauty in Bhupen Hazarika’s few songs. Through lyrical analysis and a historical context, the paper examines how Hazarika’s musical compositions reflect the cultural soul of his homeland.
Popularly known as the bard of the Brahamaputra, Bhupen Hazarika was the greatest cultural icon of Assam who strode the cultural arena like a colossus. He was not only a singer, he was more of a music director, poet, film-maker, lyricist, writer, philosopher, storyteller, all rolled into one. A born humanist, Bhupen Hazarika composed many of his songs himself on varied themes and a good number speak of man’s brotherhood across boundaries of nation and culture carrying a rousing humanist message. His songs are poignant with love, optimism and humanism. Through his songs he appealed for the down- trodden, oppressed and deprived section of the society and these songs are spontaneous expression of his human love. This paper is a noble venture to analyse some selected songs of Bhupen Hazarika that reflects the essence of aesthetic beauty . He was not only a singer, he was a lyricist, composer, musical director, poet, film-maker, writer all rolled into one. That is why most of the songs he had sung were most often written and composed by him. His highly emotive melodious voice, flawless diction, poetic composition and his parables on varied themes swayed millions for several decades. Throughout his life, he strove through his songs to facilitate unity and brotherhood among people beyond the ethnic, community and language diversity and many of his timeless numbers would testify to his liberal ideals of humanity that he sought to espouse. Many of his songs evoke fellow feelings in the heart of masses. Through his songs he appealed for the down- trodden, oppressed and deprived section of the society and these songs are spontaneous expression of his human love. It is crystal clear that for this reason his songs never fail to touch the deepest chords of our hearts. Therefore, he was immensely popular not only in the states of Assam, but in the whole country. Apart from the Assamese language, he sang in many other Indian languages, including Hindi & Bengali. This very sense of belongingness to the society made him janatar xilpi (artist of the masses). Bhupen Hazarika is a humanist. His songs echo the soft feelings of his humanistic heart. Many of his songs evoke fellow feelings in the heart of the masses. Through his songs, he appeals for the down-trodden, oppressed and poorer section of the society. He appeals the world to show human feelings to them. Most of his songs are spontaneous expression of human love. There is none to him in portraying the sufferings, poverty and trauma of human being so fairly and representatively. It is observed that his love for people and the society emanating from his ideas, creative thoughts, value of life and his emotions are well reflected through his songs which have raised his status as the greatest cultural icon of India. With his heart- felt emotions, he send his life’s message to the world and also identifies himself with the common masses and their sufferings, which has brought him closer to the people. Bhupen Hazarika sought, strived and fought for the restoration of a society free from prejudices and discrimination. He talked of the casteism, the rich-poor drift, and the problem of those who face economic depravity. Thus, Bhupen Hazarika, the humanist, worked through his composition to tell about those aspects of common human life which need concern of the society. Bhupen Hazarika strived for the brotherhood and emotional integration amongst humanity of the world. Bhupen Hazarika came into contact with the legendary icons of Assamese art, music and literature, Jyoti Prasad Agarwala and Bishnu Rabha in his childhood. They planted feelings of nationalism and class consciousness in him. Jyoti Prasad and Bishnu Prasad taught him the aesthetic philosophy of a revolutionary and humanistic approach and taught him to intensify love for the ordinary people, which was later to be the stepping stone of his poetic creations, thereby making Bhupen Hazarika to become janatar xilpi (artist of the masses). Aesthetics is a philosophical science which deals with the historically determined essence of human values, their creation, appreciation and assimilation. The impact of Aesthetics is so pronounced in Bhupen Hazarika’s songs that it can mould the system of aesthetic views of a society, which leaves its stamp on the entire material and cultural activity of man. Again, in his staying in the USA (Columbia University), Bhupen Hazarika also developed intimate contact with the African-American revolutionist singer, Paul Robson, and his humanism got a new dimension. We can have glimpses of Robson in Hazarika, both in his positivist humanistic approach and his works. Bhupen Hazarika wrote, “Paul Robson was a social singer with the power to change…I too, wanted to be a singer with the power to change society.” Robson’s ‘Ol’ man river…’ resonates in Bhupen Hazarika’s immortal composition “ Bistirno parore axonkyo jonor..” whose Bangla and Hindi versions are immensely popular as the Assamese one. He also formed a peace-seeking cultural troop and visited those violence-affected areas and met the people. His songs preaching brotherhood and human bonding carry messages of protest, compassion and peace. He, throughout his life, gave voice to the teeming millions of voiceless through his melodies to raise their voice against all sorts of discrimination and inequalities. Many of his timeless numbers are imbued with voice against the hardship of the common masses and the destitute. Actually we have always been so enamoured of the voice and the totality of the song that sometimes we tend to forget the astonishing beauty of so many lyrics of Bhupen Hazarika. In this paper, some selected songs of Bhupen Hazarika have been taken up for discussion. The doctrine of human interest is best expressed in this song :
“ Manuhe manuhar babe
Jodihe okonu nebhabe
Okoni xohanubhuti re
Bhabibo kune nu kowa, xomonia..
Manuh jodihe nohoy manuh
Danav kahaniu nohoy manuh
Jodi danav kahaniba hoyei manuh
Laj pabo kunenu kua…”
(If a man doesn’t think of man with little sympathy…… tell me, o friend, who will….? He asks if we humans fail to act as human beings…a demon can never be a human being, if a demon acts as a human being, we will be ashamed. This song is considered to be the most poignant one. It bears the liberal ideals of humanity that he sought to give. This song indicates the need for fellow-feelings and bonding between people in a humanistic manner. Throughout his life, Bhupen Hazarika strove for the unity, brotherhood among the people, cutting across the barriers of ethnicity, community, language, etc., and this song is the most poignant one to testify to his ideals. This song soothes our stressed and bereaved soul with its fine blending of love, optimism and humanism. In another song,
“Xitore xemeka rati
Xemeka xitorev rati
Bastra bihin kono khetiyakar
Bhagi pora pojatir tuh jui ekurat
umi umi joli thoka raktim jen eti uttap hou..”
( On a wilt winter night may I be a red glowing warmth of the slowly burning ember from the hay in a cloth less farmer’s dilapidated hut. May I be in a cloth less peasants’ broken hut, of the slowly burning ember from the hay, the red glowing warmth). In this song, he explains the revolutionary and humanistic approach and intensified his love for the ordinary people. He speaks of and inspires the working masses and suppressed classes with whom he sought to assimilate. Bhupen Hazarika lamented the plight of the oppressed and was against all forms of hierarchy and domination. This song conveyed a strong voice in favour of the poor and the marginalised section of the society. He describes the plight of the working masses. The doctrine of universalism is best expressed in his song :
“ Moi eti jajabor
Moi luitor pora Mississippi hoi volgar rup salu
Ottawar pora Austria hoi Peris haboti lolu
Moi Illorar pora puroni rohon Chicagole korhiyalo,
moi Galibor shyar dushanber minarot huna palu,
Mark Twainor homadhit bohi Gorkyr kotha kolu,
bare bare dekhun bator manuhu apon hoise bor,
heiye moi jajabor…
Moi dekhisu onek gogon chumbi ottalikar hari
tar santei dekhisu kotona griho hin noronari……”
(He travelled and traversed from the Luit, ( the river Brahmaputra) via Mississipi to Volga, from Ottawa via Austria to embrace Paris, from Illora to Chicago, heard Galib’s Shayaris in the Minar of Dushanbe, spoke of Gorky sitting at Mark Twain’s tomb and embraced the strangers as his own. I’ve seen many skyscrapers, but also seen countless homeless people by the side of those skyscrapers.) In this song, he identified himself with the common masses of the world. He is a vagabond and wanders with only one intention in mind, i.e., the unification of the human mind. He is without home & family but embraces the whole world as his own family. Bhupen Hazarika lamented the plight of the poor and their sufferings and was against all forms of hierarchy and exploitation. He managed to extract a warm and common glow of humanity. His sense of humanism remained open to the world outside his limited political boundaries. But, this recognition of common humanity never takes away his original root, but enriches it. Their habitat, life, culture, and social security always dominated his philosophy of life. He identified himself with the common masses and their sufferings, which has drawn him much closer to the people. He echoed their feelings and sentiments, pains and sufferings, hopes and aspirations and stood by them through his songs. His songs sometimes take the bitter tone of protest and compassion. In another song :
“Prothom nohoi
Dwitiyo nohoi
Tritiyo shrenir yatri aami…”
(Neither first, nor second…..are we the passengers of the third class). In this song, celebrating the strength of the working masses, he identified himself as a co-passenger travelling towards the same destination. In this song, we findan optimistic expression of human philosophy of Bhupen Hazarika. An assimilation of cultural harmony and a patriotic flavour is highlighted in this song :
“Axom amar rupohi
Gunoru nai xex
Bharotore purbo dixor
Xurjyo utha dekh..”
The song speaks about the natural beauty of Assam. In this song, Bhupen Hazarika praises the uniqueness of the Assamese Motherland. It is noticed that the lyrics of the song is composed describing patriotism in Assam. The word Axom has been given more emphasis. The unity of cultural harmony and social condition of Assam has been highlighted. The song was written in 1960, when linguistic conflict started. So, a linguistic problem is also highlighted in this song. He describes that with the assimilation of different languages, Assam would be a prosperous and peaceful place. Again, in another song :
“Xoixobote dhemalite tumare umola monot ase
Bohag mahor luit khonot duyu xaatura monot ase..”
Bhupen Hazarika wrote many numbers of love songs. In this song, Hazarika beautifully describes the love story of a boy who fell in love with a girl at a young age of his life. But the girl left him. He gives the song a feeling of eternal love. It is found that the love life of Bhupen Hazarika is not at all satisfactory, which is reflected in this song. Moreover, the song is composed with an indigenous feeling, i.e the way a village boy show his feeling towards his lover.
Conclusion :
From the above discussion, it is clear that Assam is a rich repository of Cultural richness of folk music. Music serves some common factors in most societies even though musical styles and forms vary from culture to culture. Bhupen Hazarika’s voice has a rich, highly emotive and beautifully timbered that can easily attracts anyone. Hazarika is known for ranging from erotic to social and political commentary. Bhupen Hazarika seeks, strives and fights for the restoration of a society free from the prejudices and discriminations. He talks of the casteism, rich-poor drift, problems of those who face economic depravity. Hazarika has an abundance of concerns but all have common motive surging behind i,e to let the common human beings come up with a resistance against the hardship of their life. Bhupen Hazarika, the humanist works through his composition to talk about those aspects of common human life. Thus, this paper explains the philosophy of beauty of humanism in the songs of Bhupen Hazarika.
REFERENCES
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