SAYING IT WITH SANSKRIT 

AN ARTICLE BY DR PRAYAG  SAIKIA  in THE ASSAM TRIBUNE, APRIL, 2015

SAYING IT WITH SANSKRIT

(The Assam Tribune, April, 2015 Singer, lyricist and translator Ranjan Bezbaruah of Assam has emerged from the environs of a vibrant cultural conglomeration where ideals forever beckon to make one’s existence truly meaningful. Born in Nagaon, Ranjan has spent more than a decade- since 1999, in his untiring efforts to string together the multi-hued beads of his aspiration to bring out one garland after another along a distinctive route that had hitherto remained untrodden. The musical aficionado with his proficiency in Sanskrit gradually found that the doors of his much-solicited horizon were slowly opening up. The beckoning around him were growing louder and more demanding. Even Dr Bhupen Hazarika had no hesitation in stating that Ranjan had been popularizing his Assamese lyrics in Sanskrit very successfully. ‘ I sincerely wish that Ranjan’s works would fetch the recognition and appreciation from the cultural fraternity of India’, the icon remarked. After pursuing an M. A. in Sanskrit from Gauhati University in 1997, he has completed the translation of over a hundred immortal Assamese songs into Sanskrit encompassing the lyrics of Sankardeva, Lakshminath Bezbaroa, Jyotiprashad Agarwalla, Bishnuprashad Rabha,, Parvatiprashad Baruah, Ambikagiri Raichaudhari and so on, apart from Bhupen Hazarika’s. Ranjan has also rendered a number of Rabindranath Tagore songs along with some popular folk songs and patriotic numbers of India. Sanskrit versions of the great patriotic songs of the maestros like Md. Iqbal, Kabi Pradip and A R Rahman are popular among the youth. From 2008 he has released a succession of audio-albums that include songs written by the stalwarts along with a few of his own compositions. The albums are 'Manomohini' (2008), 'Mriganayana' (2011) 'Sagara Sangamah (2012), 'Yasoda-Nandana' (2014); ‘Anandini’ and 'Devastakam' which are under production. He has presented his renditions at various platforms in Assam, West Bengal, Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi in the presence of noted intellectuals, dignitaries and enthusiasts of art and culture who received them with whole-hearted appreciation. It is noteworthy that this attempt of a Sanskrit rendition of songs has been ventured upon for the first time in the history of Assamese music and to some extent even in Indian music. He is a recipient of the 'Sudhakantha Dr Bhupen Hazarika Memorial Intregration Award' which has handed to him in Jorhat, Assam on Nov 5. 2014. The local media lauded Bezbaruah’s endeavour in ‘expanding and enhancing the scope of the classical language that proudly enshrines the deathless spirit of India’. A prominent local daily observed that ‘the key aim of Ranjan Bezbaruah is to establish Assamese music in the national platform and make the people understand the aesthetic beauty of it. It's a great initiative by Ranjan which will definitely contribute towards the overall prosperity of the Indian cultural resources’.
The man with a mission continues his work with the aim to include more of India and the world into his fold of activity.