Youngsters at the workshop on Rudra Barua?s music. Picture by S.H.Patgiri

Guwahati, July 17: It is never too late to learn.

Two of Assam?s veteran singers, Sangita Kakati and Meera Das Saharia, are back in the classroom along with nearly 60 budding artistes to study the compositions of the man who is acknowledged as the pioneer of modern Assamese music.

Organised by the NGO Yuba Tirtha, the music workshop?s objective is to tap the potential of music as a tool to bring about social change and revive the late Rudra Barua?s compositions. Among those who are conducting this first-of-its-kind workshop on Barua?s music are the husband-wife duo of Khagen and Archana Mahanta.

Barua took music beyond the boundaries of entertainment and used it to promote the concept of unity in diversity in undivided Assam.

The poignant Ai Asomor mahajati aami/nai eku sin par, which was written, set to tune and sung by him in 1954 with a paragraph each in Bengali, Khasi, Nepali, Hindi and Jaintia, typified the man and his music.

Kakati, who has over 150 solo albums to her credit, believes her musical journey would have been incomplete without studying Barua?s music. ?I had always wanted to know more about his compositions, not only because of their richness but also for the messages they carried. His works take us back to our roots.?

Saharia, who has been a popular radio artiste since the Seventies and has recorded several albums during her long career, echoes Kakati?s feelings.

?This workshop has provided us with a great opportunity to enhance our abilities as artistes and human beings. B arua was a true son of the soil and so were his songs. We hope to be able to do our bit to propagate the legacy of a man who gave us such songs as Poka dhanor maje maje soru soru ali.?

Yuba Tirtha, which specialises in studying, researching and promoting traditional folk culture, has organised a function at Guwahati?s Bhaskar Natya Mandir tomorrow, where the workshop trainees will perform.

?We are satisfied with the response from the participants. We hope to hold such workshops elsewhere in the state to perpetuate Barua's legacy,? Yuba Tirtha general secretary N. Goswami said.

The department of cultural affairs and the Calcutta-based Eastern Zonal Cultural Society is supporting the workshop, which began on July 9. The roster of participants includes artistes from places as far as Doom Dooma, Tinsukia, Makum and Tezpur.