Winged Horse: 76 Assamese Songs

Words mattered for Bhupen Hazarika. Today they matter to us in new ways, as the public language of many nations deteriorates, along with shared notions of what it means to be civilized. The Winged Horse carries the words of a man who used language to show his soul to the world, who believed in the common humanity of all, so we wanted this volume to serve as a generational bridge from his time to now and into the future. Even though aspects of his meaning may become hidden obscured in translation, his original work holds such great value that it begs to be translated, allowing as many people as possible to enjoy of the feast for the soul he created to celebrate our shared humanity.

We were so very fortunate enough to find such a one who made this project possible. Syed Ahmed Shah's English translations of Bhupen Hazarika's songs came to my notice before my father took his last breath on November 5th, 2011. At the time I had long identified myself as Assamese, yet I lived a parallel life at a distance, with little spoken Assamese in my life except when I visited Assam. The other occassions when I 'spoke' it were when I sang my dad's songs in Assamese, so understandably I was hungry to find yet more meaning in his work. Then appeared before my eyes, quite literally, some of Syed Ahmed Shah's translations, yet un-published, on social media. In less than a year after, he expired so I considered this connection a most fortunate gift from my father posthumously, which could not have come at a better time in my life.

Because he wrote these songs in Assamese, we included the Assamese script to remind readers of the original language of the songs. We believe that the preservation and exploration of Bhupen Hazarika's songs is akin to the preservation and exploration of Assamese culture as well as a manual to discover and cultivate our Humanity.

It is common practice to refer to Bhupen Hazarika's songs as 'Bhupendra Sangeet'. Every year around the time of his birth and death anniversaries (Sept 8 and November 5th), to the delight of young and old across the many communities, singing contests of Bhupenda's 'evergreens' come alive all over Assam. It should be known that those popular songs, sung by so many, are but a small fraction of his work-we believe that he wrote more than 600 songs! Mr. Shah's selection of 76 is more than a handful and casts a wide net over many subjects. Some of them can be found online to sing along with, adding another dimension of pleasure from this slender tome.

I sincerely hope that Winged Horse will inspire new generations in many ways as they experience Bhupen Hazarika's depth and eloquence: some will pick up a few tips on how to live life, some will be inspired to learn Assamese, many may be emboldened to validate their own experiences; and most importantly some readers, when adrift or lost, will find the polestar needed to attain the promise of freedom, comfort and dignity.

-Tej Hazarika, publisher