Being Assamese feels like…

Since the day the news broke about the sudden demise of one of Assam’s most relatable sons, Zubeen Garg, every soul in Assam regardless of caste, creed, or religion felt an unexplainable pain. A collective wound. On the 19th of September 2025, 3.73 crore Assamese hearts broke in a way that only we can understand or maybe not even explain at all.


This loss feels too personal. In every household, sleep was lost, food had no taste, and silence carried the same grief. It felt like a part of Assam itself had died. This, I now know, is what being Assamese feels like.


I always wondered what the truest, deepest form of being Assamese meant. I’ve always been proud of our culture, our tea, our music, our resilience. But this loss this unbearable void left by Zubeen Da is what being Assamese feels like. These days have been unbearably painful for every Assamese, no matter where they live, no matter if they only knew one song of his or every single one. Each of us felt a piece of our soul torn away.


This wasn’t just the death of a singer. Not just the end of an artist or a philanthropist. This was the loss of a phenomenon, a force, the very heartbeat of Assam. His death was felt in millions of homes, in millions of hearts, all crying out “Zubeen Da,” knowing we will never hear him answer again.


Being Assamese feels like this the tears, the wailing, the rain falling with us, and the sun peeking through as if to console us, yet nothing can untie the knot of grief in our stomachs. Hunger and sleep disappeared. Only the memory of Zubeen Da remained. He was our courage, our hope, our strength. Without his voice, without his presence, it feels like the light in Assam has dimmed.


This mourning is natural. It didn’t matter how close or distant one felt to his music four generations felt this pain at once. That is the scale of his presence. That is what being Assamese feels like: a shared soul, a shared heartbeat, and now, a shared emptiness.


Zubeen Da made us realize again what being Assamese truly means. His life, his voice, and now his loss have bound us together as one people. He was and will always remain a phenomenon that we will not witness again in our lifetimes.


Thank you, Zubeen Da, for reminding us what it means to be from this land, to be Assamese. We can only hope your passing doesn’t go in vain that justice, truth, and karma prevail in your name. We can only hope you rest in peace, power, and love, just as you gave us all those things through your music. We can only hope you give us
the courage and strength you carried so naturally within you.


Assam has lost her heartbeat, but in time, we will heal. And when we do, it will be with the values you stood for, the spirit you gave us, and the love you poured into us.

Thank you, Zubeen Da. Forever in our souls.


— Archita Rajkumari, an Assamese living in Europe