A statue of Bishnu Prasad Rabha in Tezpur

Tezpur, the city of “eternal romance”. Tezpur, the cultural capital of Assam. One can go on and on and not run out of epithets to bestow on this beautiful town on the north bank of the Brahmaputra.

Tezpur has a glorious history — it finds mention even in the Mahabharat — and has been the cradle of art and culture, blessed with talents of the stature of Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha, Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwala and Natasurya Phani Sarma.

For an artiste, a visit to Tezpur is indeed a pilgrimage and I was lucky to have been there a few days go. I was invited to perform at a function and I did not let go of the opportunity to visit the houses of Rabha, Agarwala and Sarma. That day will remain a special one for me.

When I entered the houses in which these three doyens of art and culture used to stay, I had a feeling of fulfilment that I cannot describe in words. The very ambience was divinely soothing. Looking around, I tried to visualise the three geniuses at work — Rabha composing a love song, Agarwala writing the script for a film and Sarma working on the dialogue of a play.

I met some of the family members of the triumvirate, including the Kalaguru’s wife, Mohini Rabha. She showed me around the house where the personal belongings of the poet-actor were kept. It was an overwhelming experience. She blessed me and asked me to continue my journey and work for the uplift of the downtrodden, just like her husband did in his lifetime.

As I was leaving Tezpur, I remembered the connection between Tezpur and another legend of Assam, Bhupen Hazarika. This multifaceted genius spent many years as a child and then a teenager in close association with the Kalaguru, Rupkonwar and Natasurya. I remember reading somewhere that Bhupenda has always acknowledged the influence of these three greats on his development as an artiste.

As a town, too, Tezpur has a unique charm. The historical ruins of Agnigarh remind us of the love story of Usha and Lord Krishna’s son Aniruddha. King Bana is said to have made his daughter Usha a prisoner in his palace to prevent her from meeting Aniruddha.

Driving out of town, I was humming a wonderful song by Bhupenda, penned many years ago as a tribute to Tezpur. It goes Mur lakshyashtan hol Tezpur (My destination is Tezpur). I do not know yet what my destination is, but my journey has been wonderful indeed.