Guwahati, Oct. 24: Close on the heels of Bob Dylan being awarded the Nobel for literature, one of his ardent admirers, singer-songwriter Lou Majaw received the Bhupen Hazarika National Award at Raj Bhavan here this afternoon for his contribution towards popularising rock and roll in the Northeast.
Majaw is the fourth recipient of the award which carries a citation from the family members of Bhupen Hazarika, a memento and Rs 50,000. A black Nepali cap, the kind the music maestro used to don, was also presented to him.
"It is an honour to receive this award. But I am more curious to read the translation of Bhupen's songs into English, which will probably be out by next year, as most of his songs were in Assamese," Majaw, the black Nepali cap now firmly on his head, told The Telegraph after receiving the award.
Majaw, who is popularly known as the Bob Dylan of the East, said, "I have gone beyond being Bob Dylan's fan. I respect him. And more than a singer, I respect him as a lyricist."?
The award was instituted by Sarhad, a Pune-based NGO, a year after the maestro's demise in 2011 to honour personalities and artistes who have helped put the Northeast on the national and international maps. The NGO works mostly for rehabilitation of children in insurgency-prone Kashmir and the Northeast.
Assam governor Banwarilal Purohit gave away the award at a function attended by Bhupen Hazarika's family members, dignitaries and students of the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya.
Majaw, born on April 14, 1947, had his first encounter with the guitar in 1955 at Sacred Heart Boys' School. He has since spent more than 50 glorious years in the world of music.He was introduced to Bob Dylan's works in 1966 and organised the first Bob Dylan birthday concert in Shillong on May 22, 1972, which later attracted national and international attention.
Regarding the controversy surrounding Dylan for being conferred the Nobel prize for literature with several eminent writers, including Ruskin Bond, saying it was an "insult" to other writers, Majaw said, "He is a song writer, and, hence, has been given the Nobel for literature. People will always complain but I am glad that he has been given this award. In fact, I am shocked at what took them so long to give him this award," he said.
After giving the award, Purohit said, "Music is a very powerful tool and has a great impact on society. The love for music is the love for motherland. Majaw and Bhupen Hazarika are a few such examples."
Film director Jahnu Barua was the first recipient of the award in 2013, followed by playwright and theatre director from Manipur, Ratan Thiyam, in 2014 and eminent journalist Samudra Gupta Kashyap in 2015.
Sanjeev Nahar, founder president of Sarhad, told The Telegraph that Bhupen Hazarika had come up with the idea of the award when he met the maestro in 2010.
"He (Hazarika) stressed the need to acknowledge the people of the Northeast who make an impact outside the region. He suggested that the award be named after Ahom general Lachit Borphukan but unfortunately he died in 2011. That is when we decided to name it after him," Nahar said.
