Economics and Politics. Together we go far. We have miles to go before we sleep! : Does True Love Exist?

When A Brush Holds A Voice - an immortal Love Story. A true love beyond any physical relation, a love between two sole. Possibly there would be very few such example to match, where a poet, painter marries a singer who could no longer sing, who was bound to the wheel chair for rest of her life. Theirs is an epic love story, they were together until death separated them.

Dipali Borthakur whom we all fondly call Dipali Baidew ( Baidew means - Elder Sister ) doesn’t need any introduction for people of Assam. She was adjudged the Best Singer Award in the Sangeet Natak Akademi Music festival in 1956, and it was in 1957 that she was selected as an official singer for All India Radio, auguring a new chapter of her life. A life that was to be transformed for melodious rendition by her golden voice. Come 1959, the year added another feather in her cap, she took step towards starting out as a play back singer with the song Joubone Amoni Kore, the film was Lachit Barphukan that eventually released in the year 1961

But soon tragedy struck. It was in 1968 that she was diagnosed with the motor neuron disease that would from then on, ensured that “Assam’s nightingale” would lose her voice. her blossoming career was cut short with her affliction. Medical treatment in Ireland and Kolkata proved futile. Not only that she would relegated to be confined to wheel Chair for rest of her life. With her, We had lost a voice that has kept people of Assam mesmerized even after more than fifty years since she sang her last song. The mysticism of her song, her diction, the purity and the untarnished melody of her would take you to a different world. The handful few songs she sung are treasure of Assam. She received the fourth-highest civilian award of India, the Padma Shri, in the year 1998. She is known for her timeless songs soaked with fragrance of soil and flowers like ‘Xunor Kharu nelage muk’, ‘Senai moi jau’, ‘Aji moi ulalu’, ‘O Bondhu Somoi Pale Amar Phale’, ‘Konman Boroxire Sip’ and many others.

Dipali Baideo was married to noted painter and Lalit Kala Akademi member Neel Pawan Baruah. It was a love at first site for Baruah. Their relationship was often a resemblance to that of English poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Elizabeth enjoyed wealth and position, but suffered from weak lungs and tended to be reclusive in her youth. She became even more so after the death of her beloved brother. Though Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s weak health improved dramatically after marriage, and the couple had a son. Elizabeth died in her husband’s arms in 1861

It was at one of his relative’s neighbourhood where Neel Pawan Baruah first spotted her. Her ailments, her condition, was never a barrier for his felling in love with her! In his own words “I first spotted her at her sister’s house and instantly fell in love with her. In 1976, we got married.”

He looked after baidew with adorable care, love and understanding. Baidew’s deteriorating condition warranted that she had to be taken care of, almost like a baby. And his love for her passed the test of time. their bond became stronger & stronger, the smile in their face, the bliss spoke about it all. Baruah continued taking care of her tirelessly with dedication and love without any fuss. From bathing her, doing her daily chores, watching over her and feeding her, his devotion to his wife, itself became a piece of art ! And this has been the case for 42 years, till she breathed her last on 21 December 2018.