Bhupen Hazarika hospitalised

GUWAHATI—25-01-2011 Dr. Bhupen Hazarika shows a portrait after giving his signature on it which will be exhibited in the museum during the inaugurating of the ‘Dr Bhupen Hazarika Museum’ at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra in Guwahati on Tuesday, January 25, 2011. The museum is dedicated exclusively to music maestro Bhupen Hazarika which will display about 4000 objects owned by the living legend right to his dear chair. The list of items are also being catalogued and readied for the museum’s display which includes all the awards from the Padma Shri to the Dadasaheb Phalke that the maestro has received since he started singing at the age of four. PHOTO:RITU_RAJ_KNWAR GUWAHATI—25-01-2011 Dr. Bhupen Hazarika shows a portrait after giving his signature on it which will be exhibited in the museum during the inaugurating of the ‘Dr Bhupen Hazarika Museum’ at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra in Guwahati on Tuesday, January 25, 2011. The museum is dedicated exclusively to music maestro Bhupen Hazarika which will display about 4000 objects owned by the living legend right to his dear chair. The list of items are also being catalogued and readied for the museum’s display which includes all the awards from the Padma Shri to the Dadasaheb Phalke that the maestro has received since he started singing at the age of four. PHOTO:RITU_RAJ_KNWAR - caption

Winner of the Dada Saheb Phalke award Bhupen Hazarika was hospitalised in Mumbai on Tuesday night after suffering from dehydration.

The 85-year old Assamese singer is in the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Andheri. His condition is stable and he is responding well to treatment. “His physical parameters are stable. His heart and blood pressure are normal. He was undergoing deep depression and had abstained from food completely. We had to rush him to the hospital because he was dehydrated,” Mr. Hazarika’s longtime companion filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi told The Hindu over telephone.

Ms. Lajmi said he was being fed through nasal tubes. “He has to gain strength. He has become very weak. He has to be in bed.”

Recovering

On Thursday, Mr. Hazarika was given physiotherapy. “He could sit for five minutes in a chair. He said he was feeling weak and sad. I told him he would get better. However, he is responding well to treatment. Today [Thursday], he opened his eyes, smiled, recognised people and talked to them,” Ms. Lajmi said.

“He was admitted to emergency care on arrival and then shifted to the ICU. Although he is recovering and doing much better, he continues to be in the ICU. We are hoping to discharge him within two or three days. I spoke to him. He recognised we had met 25 years ago,” the spokesperson said