MUMBAI, Sept. 5 -- The city will witness an iconic cultural moment this Sunday - the ceremonial opening of the centenary celebrations of the Bard of the Brahmaputra, Dr Bhupen Hazarika. Ganga Behti Ho Kyun (GBHK), a title borrowed from one of his most haunting laments, will serve not only as a musical tribute but also herald a year-long, global homage to the Bharat Ratna awardee whose voice, poetry and politics are a bridge between people, places and generations. The evening, steeped in artistry and tradition, and anchored by voiceover artiste Harish Bhimani, will open with the resonant strains of Gayan Bayan, a religious dance performance from Majuli, Assam, by Krishna Barbayan, invoking Hazarika's roots, where rhythm, ritual and the river flow as one. Thereafter, an ensemble of illustrious artistes will take the stage: Usha Mangeshkar, Anup Jalota, Suresh Wadkar, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Zubeen Garg, Kalpana Patowary, Debojit Saha and Mayukh Hazarika. Their voices will be lifted by the grandeur of a live 18-piece orchestra under Grammy nominee Ajay Singha's baton. Few relationships in Indian music are as tenderly remembered as that between Bhupen Hazarika and the Mangeshkar sisters. Recalling this, Usha Mangeshkar shared: "Bhupen-da distilled the pulse of the people into his music. While Lata didi's renditions of his compositions carried an otherworldly gravitas, bringing new dimensions to his verses of longing and resilience, Asha didi, with her inimitable vivacity, embraced his folk-rooted cadences, turning them into playful yet profound expressions of joy and struggle. It was more than collaboration; it was a dialogue that has given us songs that still shimmer with affection, respect and the quiet miracle of artistic kinship." For vocalist Suresh Wadkar, the honour of singing at GBHK is both a challenge and reward. "His compositions appear deceptively simple. Yet once you begin to sing, you realise how masterfully he had embellished them with both the grandeur of the classical and the beauty of the folk. That's why his music resonates equally with connoisseurs and common folk," said Wadkar. Violinist Sunita Bhuyan, head of Suraj Foundation (a welfare organisation), who has curated the concert, framed it as both homage and journey. She said, "This will be an immersive exploration of the powerful melodies and humanist philosophies that defined Dr Hazarika's work. His legacy lies in his courage to question injustice while offering a vision of hope and unity. GBHK itself is a searing question to the river Ganga, symbolic of his questioning of social inequity. Through this tribute, we hope to reignite his spirit of humanism and his vision of art as a force to heal, bind and inspire change." Apart from the performances, a coffee-table book on Hazarika by Assamese TV pioneer Sanjive Narain, which carries reflections from Lata Mangeshkar and AR Rahman, among others will be released. Complementing it will be an academic paper by think tank SHARE, revisiting Hazarika's ethos of cultural assimilation of the North-East with the rest of India and world -a theme he championed with conviction and compassion. Together, these will illuminate the many facets of a man who was at once poet, composer, singer, activist and philosopher. Mumbai's homage will be a precursor to the Government of Assam's official centenary celebrations later this month in Guwahati. These will include the release of a commemorative coin by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marking Hazarika's stature. A series of global tributes will follow, each carrying forward the flame of his art and ideals....