Jorhat mourns the loss of Music Icon Zubeen Garg

Dibrugarh: The sudden and tragic demise of Assamese singer and music icon Zubeen Garg has sent waves of shock and profound grief throughout the region.

News of the incident has plunged millions of fans and the entire Assamese cultural landscape into a state of disbelief and mourning. The wave of sorrow has been especially poignant in Jorhat, where a young Zubeen spent his formative years, first discovering the musical genius that would make him a household name.


Zubeen resided in the Bongal Pukhuri area from Class 9 through his Higher Secondary education in Science at JB College, Jorhat from 1990 to 1992. It was here that the legend of Zubeen—the artist and the person—began to take shape.

His college friend, Abhinav Dutta, expressed his shock and pain, vividly recalling the young man who defied convention. “He never wore uniform and was sometimes reprimanded by the lecturers. He would come to JB College wearing a colourful Bermuda and a Japi (Assamese hat). But they always acknowledged his musical talent. He was irregular in class and attended only 21 days in an entire year in his HS final year. He was mostly busy in music," Dutta said.

Dutta fondly remembered Garg as "a helpful, talented and well-liked person" who showed early signs of the musical genius that would later captivate millions across India and beyond.

Another college mate, Diganta Bora, also shared memories of the young artist, mentioning how even during his student days, music was Garg's primary passion. After completing his Class 12 in 1992, Garg moved to Guwahati for higher studies, but his heart remained connected to his Jorhat roots.

Though the family home on Bongal Pukhuri was sold years ago by his father, retired bureaucrat Mohini Mohon Borthakur, Zubeen’s connection to it remained unbreakable. Neighbours recounted his visits whenever he was in upper Assam for concerts. His deepest attachment was to a Krishnachura tree in the yard, planted by his late mother, Ily Borthakur, who first taught him the “initial music ropes.”

“Zubeen used to come often to the home and hug that Krishnachura tree. By hugging the tree he used to remember his mother. Even after the house was gone, that tree was his anchor to her and to his beginnings here in Jorhat,” a longtime resident Mayurakshi Sarma Borthakur said.

That tree now stands as a quiet, living monument to a boy who became a legend, as the state he loved struggles to come to terms with the silence left by his passing. The vibrant young man in the colourful Bermudas and Japi is now remembered as an irreplaceable icon whose music and memory will forever be entwined with the soul of Assam.