On September 19, as the shocking news of Zubeen Garg's death in Singapore broke, Jubin Nautiyal started trending. Most in the Hindi heartland, and for that matter in most parts of the country, must have tragically mixed the two. Nautiyal might be better known. But the outpouring of grief in Assam and how lakhs descended on the streets to pay tribute to Zubeen Garg surprised the country. The rest of India never realised that the singer from Assam was so big, both in life and death.

One might call it the dichotomy, or even tragedy, of India's diversity. Zubeen Garg, who has a cult-like following in the northeast , never claimed the recognition he deserved in the rest of India.

It is also a tragedy that Zubeen Garg, who sang over 36,000 songs in over a dozen languages, had to be pitched

See Full Page