Timeless Entity!

IF MAN WOULDN’T THINK FOR MAN

WITH A LITTLE SYMPATHY

TELL ME WHO WILL, COMRADE?

IF WE REPEAT HISTORY

IF WE TRY TO BUY AD SELL HUMANITY

WON’T WE BE WRONG COMRADE?

IF THE WEAK TIDE OVER THE RAPIDS OF LIFE

WITH YOUR HELP

WHAT DO WE STAND TO LOSE?

IF MAN DOES NOT BECOME MAN

A DEMON NEVER WILL

IF A DEMON TURNS MORE HUMAN

WHOM SHALL IT SHAME, COMRADE?

This English translation of Axom Ratna, Dr. Bhupen Hazarika’s Millennium Song ‘Manuhe Manuhor Baabe’ was adopted by one of the Rotary clubs in Canada way back in 2004. While Dr. Nilakshi Mahanta and I sang the Assamese song at one of the club meets and put up the translation on the LCD screens on either side of the stage for all to understand, the members just listened to us in pin-drop silence. And once the song was over, I remember we got a standing ovation.

The song has so much relevance now at this time when we need that little bit of love, understanding and humane sensibilities for our brothers, who if we look broadly enough is part of this huge big family that we all belong to. We need this song to remind us how important it is to simply ‘love thy neighbours’. One part of the song is particularly stirring when Bhupen da sings “if the weak tide over the rapids of life with your help what do we stand to lose?” A thought-provoking sentence indeed, something to remind us that we do have so much more than we expected: it's time to help others with a helping hand to reach the place we are in or maybe even higher.

So, two years later when we remember Bhupen da with intense grief and a heavy heart once again on his second death anniversary on the 5^th of November, we could feel the presence of his spirit at the Rabindra Bhawan, when the hall reverberated with his song “Manuhe Manuhor Baabe” sung to near perfection by the artists of the Directorate of Information and Public Relations, Assam. A programme of profound importance as the 2^nd Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Memorial Lecture was deliberated by Dr. Sanjaya Mishra, a research scholar par excellence. This is an annual event organised by the Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University, the only open university of the Northeast India, the Directorate of Information and Public Relations and the Directorate of Cultural Affairs. Accolades to the people of these offices!