A tribute in 22 languages, stuck at the printer: What happened to Bhupen Hazarika’s biography?

Guwahati: An Assam government initiative, aimed at taking the life and legacy of 'Bard of Brahmaputra' Bhupen Hazarika to readers across India through 22 languages, appears to have been facing a publication and distribution bottleneck, with several translators still waiting for copies of their work more than a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the book.

Commissioned by the state government through its Publication Board Assam, the book was projected as an authoritative account of the legendary singer-composer's life and a centenary tribute to him.

Originally in Assamese, the book 'Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika' was translated into 21 other languages and released by PM Modi in September last year amid much fanfare.

While several translators have "lost hope and interest" after waiting more than a year, the Publication Board Assam (PBA) said it will print an adequate number of copies in all translated languages in 2027 for distribution in libraries of the respective states.

The book was translated into English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Bodo, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Nepali, Konkani, Malayalam, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Kashmiri, Dogri, Odia, Punjabi, Santhali, Tamil, Urdu, Bangla and Maithili.

"They sent two dummy copies to me at the time of the release. I and all other translators corrected and submitted those immediately for final publication. But after that, we have not heard anything from them," Malayalam translator Anantha Narayanan told PTI from Keralam.

He claimed almost all translators have contacted the PBA for final copies, but "none have received" them so far.

"Our grudge is that we all love Bhupen Hazarika and we want to make his works popular among our people, but we are yet to get our copies. How do we distribute copies to readers?" the veteran translator asked.

He said all translators worked with "great enthusiasm" for releasing the book in the year marking Hazarika's 99th birth anniversary and later hoped it would be distributed during his birth centenary celebrations.

"We have waited for one year and thought that before Hazarika's birth centenary celebrations are complete, the book would be printed. Now, we have lost our interest in this whole project," Narayanan said.

The book 'Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika' was written by senior journalist Anuradha Sarma Pujari. Renowned film critic-poet Aparajita Pujari was in charge of the 'Bhupen Hazarika Project', which was entrusted to implement the government's plan to bring out the book in all major Indian languages.

Asked whether any communication from the PBA was received by them over the alleged delay, Narayanan said translators were only told to "wait for some time".

"I think it was only a PR exercise that the government indulged in by releasing the book in 22 languages," he alleged.

Several other translators with whom PTI spoke have confirmed what their Malayalam counterpart has said.

Tamil translator K Nallathambi wrote to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in July this year, highlighting the alleged neglect by the PBA in printing the book and seeking his personal intervention.

A copy of the mail is available with PTI.

Following this email, the PBA published the final Tamil version and dispatched five copies to the translator, Nallathambi said.

He sought more copies for distribution in Tamil Nadu, and claimed that the PBA sent 40 more copies after receiving payment from him.

"After a year of efforts, this book has been published by the Assam government. This book has been translated into 21 languages. It is not known whether it has been published in other languages. But after some hurdles, it has come out in Tamil," he wrote on Facebook on October 17.

Nallathambi also said a few copies are with him and interested readers can purchase from him by paying Rs 300, the price of the 377-page book.

In a video related to the book on Facebook recently, Konkani translator Lilesh Vasudev Kudalkar said, "Already one year has passed since the event and for the hard work that we, the translators of the said book, have done. We had completed the said translation work in record time so that the grand function could become a successful event."

However, they have not received "a single copy" till date, whereas all had many plans in their respective states to popularise the book, he claimed.

"Readers of every respective language were waiting eagerly to receive the book to know more about Dr Bhupen Hazarika ji. But their wait is still not over," Kudalkar said.

When contacted, PBA Secretary Pramod Kalita accepted that the book has not been sent to the respective translators, except "a few" copies, and only dummy copies were given to them at the time of release by PM Modi on September 13, 2025.

"We have requested all to inform us how many copies they need. We will give them accordingly. Our plan is to send the book to libraries of all the states of the respective languages free of cost next year. That is why we initially sent only a few copies," he told PTI.

Kalita claimed that PBA tried to contact the translators for dispatch, but many did not receive calls from the project in-charge.

He also claimed that the PBA has already distributed around 11.5 lakh copies of the book in the Assamese, Bodo, Bangla and English versions across Assam and is presently in talks with various distributors of different states.

When asked about the controversy, project in-charge Aparajita Pujari said, "I, along with a team of translators and copy editors, completed and submitted the project on time. Printing and distribution are not my responsibility. So, I don't think I'm the right person to comment on this."

All the translators appreciated Pujari's role and said the Assam government paid their remuneration on time.

"When we went to Guwahati for the book release function, we were very happy with the hospitality. The government really took good care of us and gave proper respect. However, we are disappointed now as the book has not seen the light of day," a translator told PTI on condition of anonymity.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Mathrubhumi and is published from a syndicated feed.)