Assam: Nagaon man digitally archives over 200 rare Zubeen Garg songs

A music enthusiast from Kuwaritol in Assam’s Nagaon district has taken up an effort to preserve rare recordings of late singer Zubeen Garg, collecting old audio and video cassettes and digitally archiving songs that are no longer readily available online.

Chinmoy Saikia has been collecting Zubeen’s old cassettes over the years and preserving them as part of his personal archive. He has also digitally stored more than 200 songs by the singer that, according to him, are not available on YouTube or other major digital platforms.

Saikia’s collection includes recordings from an era when music was largely distributed through physical cassettes, many of which are now vulnerable to damage or loss.

The digital archive is aimed at ensuring that these recordings remain accessible even as the original cassettes deteriorate over time.

Zubeen Garg, one of Assam’s most prominent singers and musicians, built a vast body of work across Assamese and other Indian languages during his career. His recordings continue to remain widely popular across the region.

Saikia’s archive seeks to preserve a part of that musical legacy that may otherwise disappear from public access as older physical recordings become increasingly difficult to find.