Lou Majaw

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Lou Majaw (b. 1946) is a Khasi guitarist popularly known as the "Bob Dylan of the North-East [India]".

Born to a poor family, the Majaws could not afford a guitar or a radio. In a friend's house he was introduced to the music of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley, and taught himself the guitar in school. Majaw then moved on to Kolkata (Calcutta) where he played in bars and pubs for various groups 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 organized a "Dylan's birthday concert" in Shillong on May 24, 1972. Since then he has organized the concert each year on 24 May to pay obeissance to Dylan, with the shows eventually gaining national and international fame.

Lou Majaw, the grand old man from Shillong whose life reads better than any bestseller. He fronted a band, Great Society, that was as good as any the West has ever produced.

When he sang his Sea of sorrow, you could feel the pain of a man who had even worked as a labourer in Calcutta to survive.

I've known hunger since I was ten
Loneliness is my good friend
I've learnt to laugh when I feel sad
When I see good times turnin' bad

And when he asked you to Paint a picture, you heard, mesmerised.

Tell a man to paint a picture
To paint in sorrow, paint in pain
I will look through the eyes
Of a world driven insane
To this day, the 50-plus Majaw organises a Bob Dylan festival in Shillong every year during the Tambourine Man's birthday. But he seldom sings his own songs, songs that will give you gooseflesh with their sheer starkness. Songs like Shadow of the sun, songs like Little man.

[edit] References

• Chowdhury, Smita Roy (2004-05-22). Jingle jangle night of melody. The Telegraph. Retrieved on July 3, 2006.
• Biswas, Soutik (2006-05-25). Homage to Bob Dylan - Indian style. BBC News. Retrieved on July 3, 2006.

Persondata
NAME	Majaw, Lou
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Indian rock musician
DATE OF BIRTH	1946
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH