Music conservationist honoured in city

GUWAHATI: US-based Assamese mathematician, writer and music conservationist Dilip Kumar Dutta was conferred the 2012 Amulya Kakoti Smarak Award at an event organized by All Guwahati Students' Union (Agsu) on Thursday.
The award is given to those who have contributed and worked towards the development, conservation and preservation of Assamese and indigenous culture and heritage and is an initiative of the student members and the art and culture development trust of AGSU.The award is given on death anniversary of Amulya Kakoti, an acclaimed filmmaker, dramatist, writer and an accomplished behavioural artist, who breathed his last 10 years ago.
Dutta who is known for his laudable effort in preserving scores of Bhupen Hazarika and Bishnu Rabha's songs and music, also has a number of books to his credit. Apart from this, Dutta is acknowledged for his contribution to the first published work on Bhupen Hazarika. "I am happy and much honoured by the Padma Bhushan award that has been bestowed upon Bhupenda," said Dutta.
"I was in close contact with Bhupenda when I planned to preserve his works. I asked him once what he intended do regarding the preservation of his songs. I used the process of reel-to-reel recording for preservation of his works. But it was very difficult to preserve Rabha's songs and music. I had to visit the places where he was in hiding during his lifetime, and in those places I met some people through whom I got hold of some of his tunes and works," added Dutta.
The ceremony was attended by Shankar Prasad Rai, president of All Assam Students' Union (Aasu), Samujjal Bhattacharjee, Aasu adviser, and noted Assamese actor Pranjal Saikia along with other guests and invitees.
"It is very important to honour and respect creative geniuses during their lifetime but, unfortunately, we tend to do so only after the person is dead, which is meaningless. This initiative by Agsu is praiseworthy," said Shankar Prasad Rai.