Jorhat, March 9: There is no better way to pay a centenary tribute to a legendary dhuliya (drummer) than by playing the instrument he used to enthral people with.
Students, teachers and staff of Jorhat College (amalgamated) plan to pay homage by playing 100 dhols and 100 bhor taals (cymbals) on March 15 to commemorate the 38th death anniversary of dhol maestro Moghai Oja. This year marks his birth centenary.
Under the initiative of Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), a bust of Oja will be unveiled on MG Road near the police station here and the intersection will be named Moghai Ojha Tiniali.
Principal Devabrata Sharma told The Telegraph today that the college decided to pay tribute to the maestro, who made the dhol famous outside Assam by his mesmerising performances across the country, in a befitting manner. Oja hailed from Naopholia village on the eastern outskirts here.
Sharma said Oja, who was a contemporary of literary and cultural icons Bishnu Prasad Rabha and Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, had put Assam on the national stage and collaborated with the likes of composer Salil Chowdhury, actor Balraj Sahni, poet Kaifi Azmi and screenplay writer K.A. Abbas, after being in the company of composers Hemanga Biswas and Bhupen Hazarika.
Sharma said Oja came in touch with legendary figures of the Indian People's Theatre Association in Mumbai in the early 1940s.
The principal said that after discussions with the college students' union and teachers, it was decided that homage would be paid to Oja by playing 100 dhols and another 100 bhor taals. He said along with both girls and boys will perform in traditional Assamese costumes with efforts on to rope in lady teachers for the programme.
Sharma said after the event, a documentary on Oja made by Jayanta Madhab Dutta, a teacher of another college here, will be screened.
AJYCP state organising secretary Siba Kalita said they got Oja's marble bust made in Rajasthan. He said the initiative was taken up through contributions from people who came forward to donate generously.
"For the past several years, we have been paying homage to the maestro by observing Moghai Ojha Divas on his death anniversary. We have also built a memorial in his native village where he was cremated," Kalita said. He said since 2011, the AJYCP has been giving an award in the name of Oja. "We gave the award to one personality in the inaugural year and from 2013, we have been awarding three persons each. It carries a cash award of Rs 10,000 and a citation and is given to eminent musicians playing traditional instruments or any person contributing to culture," he added.
This year, the award will be given to Ranjana Sarmah Bordoloi, an actress of yesteryears who had danced in the Assamese movie Pratidhani to the beats of Moghai Oja, Sepeta Oja and Punya Prabha Dutta, a woman dhuliya.
