Papon had known Zubeen Garg for 30 years. Papon was in first year of college when he met the already established Zubeen in Assam. With the passing away of one of the biggest stars of Assam, Papon tries to put his feelings into words as he says, “I still don’t know what to say…it is one of the biggest losses for the Assamese community across the world.”

It will take time to process it. The moment I heard it, I was in disbelief… you know, he had gone through this (seizures) two-three times earlier as well, so I thought he would come out of it this time as well. I made some calls, then I just switched off the phone because I knew my phone would flood with messages and calls and that would take me away from what I was feeling.

It’s just so hard to accept that someone you’ve known for 30 years, from just after your teenage days, someone you’ve spent so many evenings with, laughed with, hung out with… suddenly he’s gone. You sit and these memories start coming back. Delhi days, … staying in that tiny house with friends, and Zubeen would come and stay with me, and we’d hang out, do all the little things boys do. I’d push and pull him awake in the mornings and make breakfast for him. And now all of that is flashing in front of me.

My parents were established figures in the music industry. I discovered myself in Delhi, away from the pressure of being the son of such celebrated parents.

I think I met him for the first time when I was in my first year of college. He was a young star, his career started very young. When I was at the studios with my parents for their recording, he would be there, and he would come to greet my parents. Slowly we became friends and then he would call me at the studio he would hang out mostly. It was like his adda.

This was probably 1997-1998, and he would ask me to sing low (notes) and boast to people about me and my singing style. While he was an established star, he also was a proud friend. We created songs together… Even now when we used to meet, we would mostly talk about light stuff, we wouldn’t discuss life or philosophy. We both would just laugh. We would meet seldom now but whenever we would meet, it was like the old times, same energy. Once when we met, he said we should do a TV interview together, that would be fun. Reh gaya hai bas woh .

I might fly soon. I don’t want to meet too many people; I just want to be there... He was one in a million. He was born special; he lived life on his own terms. He lived like a king, and that is rare today.

Musically, he has left a big void. He has sung thousands and thousands of songs. His voice was everywhere in Assam. Voices like his are not there anymore. Bigger than life. Big picture, which carries the emotions of so many. These are voices which define a period in life. As of now we can’t imagine another voice like his in Assam.