<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">Today is 96th Birth Anniversary of noted Indian playback singer and lyricist Dr. Bhupen Hazarika. The musician and poet who was widely known as Sudha Kontho, has written and sung songs mainly in the Assamese which are marked by humanity and universal brotherhood. His songs have been widely translated and sung in many languages, especially in Bengali and Hindi. Born on 8th September 1926 at Sadiya in Tinsukia district of Assam, Bhupen Hazarika grew up surrounded by songs and folk tales about life along the Brahmaputra river. A famous song Ganga Behti Ho Kyun sung by Bhupen Hazarika has received worldwide acclaim.</span></p>”<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />”</p>”<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">An extremely academically prolific person, he did his Inter in Arts in Guwahati in 1942, and went on to Banaras Hindu University to complete his B.A. in 1944 and his M.A. in Political Science in 1946. Soon after, he left for New York, USA where he lived for five years and received his Doctorate (PhD) in Mass Communication from Columbia University. After completing his studies, Dr. Hazarika started singing at All India Radio in Guwahati. He sung in many superhit films like Rudali, Mil Gayi Manzil Mujhe, Saj, Darmiyan, Gajgamini, Daman and Kyun.</span></p>”<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><br />”</p>”<p style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222;">Bhupen Hazarika began his career in films as a child actor in the second talkie film in the film Indramalati in 1939. A prodigious genius Dr. Hazarika wrote and sung his first song at the age of 10. He has produced, directed, composed music and sung for the Assamese language films. He has won the President's National Award for the best film maker thrice for Shakuntala in 1960, Pratidhwani in 1964 and Loti Ghoti in 1967. Bhupen Hazarika has been conferred the highest honour by appointing him the President of Sahitya Sabha in 1993. He was the member of the Prasar Bharati Board, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in 2003. He also held the position of the Chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi from December 1998 to December 2003. Dr. Hazarika passed away on 5 November 2011.&nbsp; Bhupen Hazarika was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2019 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2012.</span></p>