A colourful welcome to Assamese New Year
dubai — A power-packed performance by iconic Assamese singer Zubeen Garg was the cherry on the cake for the audience at the Rongali Bihu celebrations in Dubai on Thursday evening.
Rongali Bihu — also known as Bohag Bihu — is celebrated in India’s north eastern state of Assam to mark the start of the New Year.
It also marks the onset of spring. For all Assamese, it’s the most magical time of the year when their state famous for its one-horned rhinos and lush green tea estates turns into a riot of colours.
And here in Dubai, the colourful event provided the perfect platform to expats from that beautiful part of India to showcase the very best of their culture and tradition.
There were some highly impressive folk dance performances, but what stole the show was the ‘Husori dance’ performed by a group of expats. The rhythm of the dancers coupled with the spontaneity of the dhoolias (traditional drummers) brought the audience to its feet.
Then they gave a rousing ovation to Jani Viswanath when the organisers felicitated the Dubai-based Indian philanthropist on stage.
Viswanath had recently helped Assamese filmmaker Bidyut Kotoky release his award-winning movie Xoixobote Dhemalite (Rainbow Fields) in India. Kotoky’s movie, which dealt with children who grew up in the riot-hit Assam in the 1980s.
“Thanks for inviting me today. I am very happy to be with all of you today in Bihu celebrations,” Viswanath said.
“What also brought me here tonight was Zubeen. You know Zubeen has sung the title song in the Assamese movie that I am now involved with. When I came to know that he would perform today, I just wanted to come here because I like his music so much and I love his voice,” she added.
Zubeen, the national award-winning singer-composer, then set the stage on fire by singing of some of his greatest songs.
Emerging Assamese talent Babu also captivated the audience with his popular songs and paid the ultimate tribute to Zubeen.