Kalpana Lajmi inconsolable after Bhupen Hazarika's death

New Delhi: Bereaved loved ones and fans bid a teary eyed farewell to India's veteran music maestro Bhupen Hazarika on Saturday (November 5, 2011).

The renowned lyricist, singer and composer passed away in Mumbai due to multi-organ failure at the Kokilaben Hospital.

The 85-year-old genius was undergoing treatment since June 29 after developing respiratory ailments.

Fans and relatives of Hazarika flocked the hospital to pay homage to the music legend.

Indian filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi, an ardent admirer of Hazarika's, paid an emotional charged tribute to him before media persons.

"It is a sad moment for everybody in India and the world, we have lost not only a great artiste but a great humanist, a great human being, who has given love and who has alleviated the condition of humanity with all his social reforms, his political activism, his ideology.

"He was a wonderfully honest man full of values and integrity and dedication and compassion for human beings. It not only reflected in his work but in his personality and I have lost everything.

"I lost my mentor, my husband, my friend, and my shelter," said Kalpana Lajmi.

Composer Lalit Pandit, too, mourns the legend's death.

"Bhupen Hazarika was a genius. He was the king of folk music and he did a lot of work in Hindi music. He was a person who would be remembered among this generation because he was a person of pure music.

"It is really sad that he has gone away. A person like him of that generation, that purity, that knowledge, would be hard to find now."

He had many national honours such as highest national award for personalities from the movie world, the Dada Saheb Phalke Award and civilian Padma Bhushan.

The legend--who was a poet, journalist, singer, lyricist, musician, filmmaker and writer at different times--was renowned for his moving ballads, which fused pan-Indian melodies with traditional Assamese music and lyrics.

His songs featured in numerous many Bollywood films, the most famous amongst them being Dil hoom hoom kare from Rudali.

Most recently, he lent his voice to the Raghubeer Yadav-starrer Gandhi to Hitler, where he sang Mahatma Gandhi's favourite bhajan Vaishnava janato tene kehere.