Guwahati: A year after Zubeen Garg’s death, his music remains more than a collection of melodies for many young people in Assam. For them, it is the soundtrack to childhood, friendships and countless emotions that have shaped their lives. As they revisit their earliest memories of the singer, his songs continue to evoke a deep sense of nostalgia, each carrying a story of its own.While “Mayabini” remains one of the songs many instinctively associate with Garg, others said their memories of the singer are tied to his vast repertoire. For some, a particular song brings back memories of school days; for others, it recalls moments from growing up.“To me, he is nostalgia. I’m ’98-born, so all I grew up listening to on the radio was Zubeen Garg. Those ASTC bus rides to my grandmother’s house, Guwahati city buses as a teenager — every stage of my life has had a favourite Garg song,” said Aditya Pran Changkakati, an avid listener.For others, Zubeen’s songs became familiar long before they understood the emotions behind the lyrics. As they grew older, the same melodies acquired different meanings, reflecting experiences they had not fully understood as children.“He made music that truly belonged to the masses. The melodies were simple, the lyrics were easy to understand, but there was always so much emotion in them. I was always afraid of singing on stage, but after listening to Zubeen’s songs, I felt the opposite. I was always excited to sing. That, to me, was the beauty of his music. At a time when technology was limited, we would listen to his songs and try to write down the lyrics in our notebooks,” said Rupankar Bhattacharjee, another listener.Treenabhaa Dutta, another listener, said Zubeen’s songs carried love, sorrow, longing and hope with rare honesty, while his connection with people showed how an artist could remain rooted in the culture that nurtured him.“I hope my generation does not only listen to Zubeen, but carries something of what he embodied — using art to connect, to give and to be there for people. That, perhaps, is how an artist continues to live,” she said.For fans like Aniket Dhar, who never had the opportunity to meet Garg in person, familiarity came through his music. His songs became a way of knowing an artist they had never met, making his sudden death all the more poignant.“I love Garg because his creative flow was never bound by anything. He drew inspiration from musicians across a vast array of genres, while also highlighting the diverse cultures of Assam. I regret discovering his music so late, but what he did was remarkable. He bridged the gap between the old and the new, bringing different generations of music together,” Dhar said.
