Bhupen Hazarika interacts with a patient during his visit to GNRC Hospitals in Guwahati on Tuesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, June 29: At 84, balladeer Bhupen Hazarika wants to fall in love again.

The singer while interacting with reporters and a few patients at GNRC Hospitals in Six Mile this evening said even though he has been away from the public glare for sometime now because of poor health, he has not given up on worshipping beauty.

Hazarika said he was currently writing and reading poetry which depicts the victory of life and love over all odds.

When nudged that poetry was often dedicated to the poet’s lover, Hazarika paused for a while and said, “Yes. I want to fall again in love.”

The evergreen singer who underwent a bypass surgery in Mumbai last year said: “Even though doctors have found something wrong with my heart, I think that it is okay to feel young. I have got a new lease of life.”

Hazarika, who will leave for Mumbai tomorrow to complete some of his upcoming projects, said he had a lot to say to the people of Assam. “First, let’s bring back peace to our state. No one should feel sick, physically and mentally, here,” he said.

Appreciating the service of GNRC Hospitals, which he inaugurated two years ago, Hazarika sang one of his all-time hits, Manuhe Manuhar Babe, to remind doctors and the nursing staff about their duty to humanity. He surveyed the hospital’s progress while being wheeled around.

Patients at the hospital were overwhelmed when they found the singer near their bed. He spent a minimum of five minutes with each patient in the ICU and general ward.

“I am a great fan of Bhupenda. Since childhood, I have been listening to his songs that touch our lives as well as society. I consider it my fortune that I could see the singer and talk to him,” Lankeshwar Das, a 70-year-old patient from Baksa district, said.