Lou Majaw’s love for gamocha is immense and in an exclusive interview, he describes his love and respect for the Assamese gamocha and says that the Gamocha’s beauty and meaningfulness is what amaze him and that’s how he fell in love with it.
Digital Desk: Lou Majaw
(pronounced Lu Majao), a 75-year-old rockstar from Shillong, is still stealing
the show and has the same enthusiasm as before. A performing artist
from Shillong in North-Eastern India, he is renowned for his Bob
Dylan tribute shows.
Born into a humble family, Lou Majaw could not afford a guitar or a
radio. At a friend's house, he was introduced to the music of Bill
Haley and Elvis Presley, and he taught himself the guitar, as most
boys and girls did in those days. His love for music grew during his school
days. Majaw then shifted to Kolkata, where he sang in bars and pubs for
numerous bands, such as the Dynamite Boys, Vanguards, Supersound
Factory, and Blood and Thunder. In 1966, Lou was introduced to Bob
Dylan's work. Inspired by his music, he later organised a "Dylan's
birthday concert" in Shillong on May 24, 1972. Since then,
he has organised the concert each year on May 24th to pay obeisance to Dylan,
with the shows generating national and international interest.
The 4th Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Award was conferred upon Majaw by the Governor of Assam for his contribution to music.
Lou Majaw’s love for gamocha is immense and in an exclusive interview,
he describes his love and respect for the Assamese gamocha and says that the
Gamocha’s beauty and meaningfulness is what amaze him and that’s how he fell in
love with it. His house is full of Gamochas and even he covers his favorite
guitar with it. He also shared an unfortunate incident that happened with him.
He went for a concert which was held in Dibrugarh where he lost a gamocha which
was especially woven for him. He was felicitated and welcomed with a Japi and a
gamocha. The ‘Phulam Gamocha’ was crafted with the entire map of Assam and it
was very beautiful Assamese gamocha, as stated by Majaw. The incident made him
very upset and even now when he recalls that day, he feels bad. Lou Majaw wishes
that someday someone will gift him a similar Gamocha with the map of Assam.
We often see him performing on the stage with the gamocha on his neck and even when he goes for vacation, he definitely carries one. As he said that he will be using these gamochas till he dies. Lou Majaw will be a motivation for the people of Assam as he sets an example and showed us how one can properly utilize a gamocha with much love and respect.
