Jorhat, Nov. 5: For Mahesh Deka, a doctor and radio artiste, translating the songs of Bhupen Hazarika into English was a labour of love.

Deka, 62, has sung the songs in English in the way the maestro sang them in Assamese and has already brought out a CD of eight songs called The Roving Minstrel Returns.

"I have been a fan of Bhupen Hazarika since Class VIII and would watch his shows whenever possible. I would also buy all his tapes and listen to them over and over again," Deka, a doctor of Rupai tea estate, Doomdooma in Tinsukia district, said.

"By translating his songs and singing them in English, I hope to take them to a wider audience. Hazarika is the greatest humanitarian I have known and his songs reflect it. My labour is a small tribute to his character, which bridges chasms and spans continents," he added.

Deka said by translating his songs, he hoped the message of Hazarika that all human beings were interdependent would be carried far.

He has taken on a project to translate 200 songs of Hazarika, of which the first 50 songs are scheduled for release in January.

Deka, an artiste of All India Radio, Dibrugarh, said today that he would sing four songs at a function organised in memory of the maestro in Doomdooma.

"I will sing the songs in Assamese, Hindi, Bengali and English, which include numbers which Hazarika himself translated," he said.

Deka may lack a western accent and the words may not seem right but they fall into place when he sings the translated song.

Manuhe manuhar babe, Jodi he ekuke nabhabe, Akanu xohanubhutire, Bhabibo kunenu kua? Homoniya is translated into "If a man does not spare a little thought, who else would weep for fellowmen, Tell me, O friend."

Deka said prior to Hazarika's demise, he had translated two of his songs into English and had hoped that the singer's health would get better and be able to sing those songs. But he could not fulfil his dream.

"In 2012, my essay on Patriotism in Bhupen Hazarika's Songs and Literature won the first prize in a national-level seminar held in Gauhati University. I took up translating his works in right earnest after that," he said.

Deka has two other music CDs - Ronga Prabhator Gaan and Kesa Maatir, Kesa Gaan -and two publications to his credit.