“The depth of our bond is beyond my ability to express.”
James was in Barguna when the news of Ayub Bachchu’s demise reached him. It struck him to the core like a bolt from the blue. He instantly quit his practice session ahead of a government organised concert scheduled to be held later on Thursday.
Heartbroken and speechless, it took a while for Ayub Bachchu’s contemporary to gather himself. James’ spokesperson Rubaiyyat Thakur Robin said while speaking to Bangla Tribune.
James’ reaction was only but natural, given their long history of creating history in Bangla Music. The duo ruled the Bangla rock and band music industry for almost three decades. Both of them started their journey from Chattogram. During their four decades of journey together they have performed on numerous shows and released a lot of albums.
“He is a legend of Bangla music. Around 40 years have passed in each others’ good times and bad, in happiness and in tears since we first met in the beginning of 80’s. We have shared stage on numerous occasions, sang together, and travelled the world together. It’s hard to accept that he is no more. His contribution to rock music will forever be remembered, I strongly believe,” James told Bangla Tribune over phone.
Clearly emotional, James took a while to gather himself and said, “The kind bond we shared, is hard to express in words. We stood by each other at times of crisis. This depth of our bond is beyond my ability to express. No one will perhaps know how much space we held in our hearts for each other."
When asked about their competition in the music industry James said, “It’s irrelevant to me how the media judged our relationship. But I think, our competition was a healthy one. It was a competition to create good music. There was no jealousy.”
“Many of you perhaps have seen on multiple occasions, whenever we met we embraced each other irrespective of the circumstances. The next thing you know, we are gossiping for hours. This sort of attachments is something that can not be expressed in words,” added James.
Expressing sadness for being out of Dhaka, James said, “If I were in Dhaka, I could have and would have rushed there but I’m scheduled to perform in a government organised concert.”
James also said that he talked with the Minister for Cultural Affairs Asaduzzaman Nur and decided to dedicate the Barguna concert to the deceased rock maestro Ayub Bachchu.