When the flute fell silent: Assam mourns Dipak Sarma, the flute maestro

Guwahati, Nov 13: The skies of Assam seem quieter. The air that once trembled with melody has grown still. Between September and November of 2025, four notes from Assam's grand symphony vanished one after another-leaving behind an ache that words cannot heal.

Zubeen Garg, Syed Sadulla, Dipak Sarma and Ramcharan Bharali.

Four names four distinct voices yet together, they were the pulse of a generation. Within just three months, the soul of Assam's music lost its rhythm.

When dawn broke on November 3, 2025, the news arrived like a shadow: "Dipak Sarma is gone.” It felt unreal. The man who could make silence sing-silent forever?

Born in Panigaon-Garemara of Nalbari district, Dipak Sarma transformed the simple flute into a sacred instrument of emotion. From the quiet classrooms of Garemara to the vibrant corridors of the Rabindra Bharati University, his journey was one of devotion.

He earned his master's in international music there-and with it, the courage to dedicate his life to the sound of the bamboo.

Dipak Sarma's artistry was both rooted and boundless. Dipak, a commerce student, was the first Assamese flautist to earn a B-High Grade in classical music from the All India Radio-a recognition that marked the rise of a new voice in India's classical realm.

Later, under the tutelage of the legendary Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia in Mumbai, Dipak Sarma refined his sound into something ethereal music that crossed frontiers without translation.

The year 2000 opened a new chapter. His first international concert in South Africa mesmerized audiences, turning Assamese folk undertones into language of the world. Performances followed across continents-each stage, a testimony to his discipline and soul. Four years later, George Washington University in the US awarded the renowned flautist an honorary doctorate, acknowledging his contribution to the global language of the flute.

The one and only Zubeen Garg once wrote: "After Prabhat Sarma, there was only one name in the flute world of Assam-Dipak. With one flute, he conquered the world."

Their friendship was born in the shared hunger of youth, in the struggle of Mumbai's uncertain nights. One found immortality in song, the other in the whisper of wind through bamboo. Today, both have joined the silence they once defied.

Even as illness took its toll, Dipak Sarma never abandoned his instrument. His liver faltered, but his breath did not. He played when he could sometimes from a stage, sometimes from a bed, sometimes from the fragile edge of pain. Each note felt like a farewell.

Prayers rose from every corner of Assam, asking destiny to return his melody. But destiny turned away. Now the flute rests.

Its song is over-but not lost. In every breeze that passes through the fields of Nalbari, in every quiet morning that hums above the Brahmaputra, the echoes of Dipak Sarma's flute still wander.

The last three months of 2025 will be remembered as the season when Assam lost its voice. The All India Radio studio stands quieter. The stages wait for an encore that will never come.

The sun of nagara naam went down. The world feels a little emptier. The songs, the melody of the flute has ended, but the echo remains.