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 regions diverse and rich heritage, couldnt 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 regions 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 Zubeens as 95 per cent of the gathering at the open air stadium seemed Axomiyas. Indranis 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 (Im sitting here itself) and I wasnt 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. Im not too ardent a fan of the singer, but Im sure everyone else whos heard him sing will agree that his songs do touch ones 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 Zubeens 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 Baruas film Konikar Ramdhenu coincided with Zubeen & the other NE singers programme. Im sure it would have put any Axomiya in two minds whether to listen to Zubeen or
watch the movie), etc. Still one cant negate anything from the festival and Im certainly looking forward to more of such events in the days to come.
Blog : Barnali Gogoi
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