WHO IS AFRAID OF ZUBEEN GARG?

“Don’t do it, or I’ll shoot you.” – full stop, not an exclamatory mark, is always the last punctuation mark in every Zubeen Garg’s sentence. Who would dare in Assam or even in India to speak truth to power in such a manner? Well, only Zubeen Garg did. Who was Zubeen Garg, Who is Zubeen Garg and Who will be Zubeen Garg after 500 years – are some of the poignant questions that Assamese people are asking right now. Before delving deeper into the persona, the cultural icon and the heartthrob of Assam – Zubeen Garg, let’s unanimously accept that Zubeen was not a product of his culture. In fact, Zubeen was never confined to any culture. He was, what we can call, ‘The Renaissance Man’. You cannot decipher who is actually the better – Zubeen Garg, the musician, Zubeen Garg, the singer or Zubeen Garg, the saviour of common people. Zubeen talked about dancing with the storm for ages (Dhumuhar xote mur bohu jugore nasun), but people danced with his madness. Although there was no method in his madness, people loved his madness. 

Now the question is, who is the real Zubeen Garg without the thirty-eight thousand songs that he sang, without the movies he acted, directed and produced? Zubeen not only brought new taste to Assamese modern songs but also revived the Assamese film industry with Mission China. If anyone traces the history of Assamese films, it’ll always be ‘Before Mission China and After Mission China’. Even after all this, the question remains: Who is Zubeen Garg? The answer is ‘You cannot define Zubeen Garg’. In his own words, he is like ‘water, shapeless’. He was a chimaera. A postmodern chimaera who read Nietzsche, Chaplin, Gibran, Buddhism and many others. Zubeen mentioned his ideology of ‘Social-Marxism’, which he developed from the readings of Marx, Che Guevara, and Bishnu Prasad Rabha. However, in his lifetime, nobody cared about Zubeen the reader. 

There was a period when Assamese digital media survived only from the news of Zubeen Garg. Neither did he care about the news, nor did he ask for anything. He only cared about the Assamese land, people and culture. He left Bollywood when he was at the peak of his career in Bombay. It was his undying love for Assam that made him the voice of the common people. When Zubeen spoke, people listened. No doubt, he was criticised and humiliated for his bold remarks, but he was misunderstood most of the time.

Zubeen has already carved a niche through his songs, music, films and social causes. Although he proclaimed himself an atheist, people made him a God-like figure, and it was nothing short of a miracle. Then, who is afraid of Zubeen Garg? The answer is: it’s not Zubeen Garg that they are afraid of. It’s the voice - the voice that represents the common people, the voice that can shake any corrupt power that they are afraid of. Zubeen Garg is the taste that emerges from the lives of common people. This taste is sweet for the masses and sour for those who act against the will of the Assamese people. 

From 18^th November, 2025, a new Zubeen Garg will be born. This Zubeen will be more powerful than the previous one. Henceforth, the Zubeen taste will acquire a new meaning, a new position, and a new voice that will usher in a new age. And it’ll be called the Zubeen Age. THE ZUBEEN AGE. 

Happy Birthday, Legend.