By Debojit Acharjee
Zubeen Garg, the legendary singer from Assam, began his musical journey with the release of his debut album, Anamika, in 1992. Since then, his passion for music has led him to a series of successful super hit songs in almost all languages, including Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, and English. Songs such as Mayabini, Maya, and Ya Ali had hit the audiences of India with great success.
Zubeen Garg was a versatile singer and actor. His first successful movie was Tumi Mur Mathu Mur, in which he not only acted but also sang the songs (soundtracks). After a few years of singing in the Assamese film industry, he made his Bollywood debut in the 2006 movie Gangster.
Zubeen Garg was a down-to-earth, nature-loving, and adventurous person, and because of this, he was able to form relationships not only with people of various backgrounds but also with the underprivileged. Because of this quality, he was able to make a huge number of fans.
ZUBEEN GARG IN BOHAG BIHU
Bihu is a special festival of Assam, and it is celebrated as Bohag Bihu (in April), Kati Bihu (in October), and Magh Bihu (in January) by the people of Assam. Every year, Bohag Bihu has been celebrated by organizing stage shows for Zubeen Garg, and he used to entertain the people of Assam with his music on such special occasions.
Hundreds of people used to wait desperately in such festivals, only to hear the divine voice of Zubeen Garg. Every celebration and occasion was incomplete without him, and he was a part of everyone’s life.
ZUBEEN GARG WAS A SOCIALIST
Zubeen Garg was not only an artist but also a socialist. He made movies like Mission China that used to give positive social messages to the audience. In the movie Kanchanjangha, he highlighted corruption in APSC recruitment. He also encouraged the youngsters to become socialists instead of becoming politicians, which he once said to Sweta Singh (Aajtak news reporter) in an interview.
As a socialist, he helped many people with social and financial issues by running a charity called Kalaguru Artiste Foundation. He used to personally go on the streets of Assam with his crew, asking for donations from person to person to help the sufferers during any crisis, such as a flood in Assam. He was also one of the main non-political figures of the Anti-CAA protest in Assam.
Zubeen Garg liked playing football and played many football matches to collect funds for flood-affected people.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he had helped many people who were not able to earn money during the lockdown. In May 2021, during a sudden rise in COVID-19 cases, he even offered his two-storied house in Guwahati to be used as a COVID Care Centre.
Without him, the COVID-19 pandemic would have been too debilitating for the affected people of Assam.
DECLINING HEALTH OF ZUBEEN GARG
At the beginning of his career, Zubeen Garg was a very active and healthy person. In spite of having a lean body, he was very energetic and used to sing for hours in studios and on stage shows. But eventually, after too many years of singing, his health started to decline. He started becoming exhausted very often and couldn’t perform like before. Soon, he suffered from seizures and other health issues.
In 2022, Zubeen Garg collapsed in the washroom of a resort in Dibrugarh, Assam. He was rushed to the nearest medical center, and the doctor diagnosed the case as epilepsy. He was treated there and was released with medications.
Zubeen Garg was under the treatment of Nemcare Hospital in Guwahati, and he had to take medications for seizures regularly. The doctor advised him to get rid of water and fire, because they could trigger a seizure.
DEMISE OF ZUBEEN GARG
In mid-September of 2025, Zubeen Garg went to Singapore to attend the North-east India festival, and had a plan to explore a few places there. On 19 September 2025, he went to a nearby Island with his crew on a cruiser yacht. After reaching near the island, most of his crew members started to jump into the sea and started swimming there to take enjoyment because no one wanted to miss that moment. Most of them asked Zubeen Garg to swim and take part in that activity. But swimming in that seawater was a risk for him.
Soon after swimming in that sea, Zubeen Garg lost consciousness, and he started to have a seizure. He was rescued and taken to the yacht, and called the paramedics. They had to give him Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) because he was not breathing, and his heart was also not beating. But after several efforts, they couldn’t retrieve his heartbeat, and he was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared dead.
DEADLY SEA KILLED ZUBEEN GARG
Zubeen Garg loved the beauties of nature, and one such beauty was the ocean. In his songs, he even included “ocean” as an inspiration. He was adventurous and loved exploring the natural world’s beauty. That’s why he wanted to experience the sea close to Singapore. However, swimming in a sea is not always suitable for everyone.
Risks of Swimming in the Sea for an Epileptic
As per medical science, any epileptic seizure may be triggered by flashing lights or moving objects. That’s why it’s not advisable to swim for patients who are at risk of having a seizure, because the visual effects of the moving water could trigger a seizure. Moreover, drowning is quite possible for such a patient during a seizure.
Sea water is not stationary like in a swimming pool, and the moving water of the sea could have such visual effects that could trigger a seizure.
Salt Poisoning Could Trigger a Seizure
People who are prone to seizures or have any mental disorder should avoid too much salt consumption. Table salt that is commonly used for cooking contains a molecule called sodium, and too much salt could increase the sodium levels in the blood. Consuming more than 0.5 – 1 gram of salt per kilogram of body weight could cause enough levels of sodium in the blood to cause salt poisoning. But salt poisoning is not always seen in adults; it could happen to adults with epilepsy or who are prone to seizures.
Sea water contains high levels of salt, and consuming even moderate levels of sea water could trigger a seizure in people with epilepsy or a mental disorder.
Dogs dying after consuming seawater have been reported in the past.
Zubeen Garg’s Design of Death
Zubeen Garg must have consumed seawater while swimming in the sea, which must have caused salt poisoning and triggered a seizure. Moreover, he didn’t take his medication on that day, and that’s why he was also at risk of having a seizure.
Being a celebrity, he should have had a good caregiver at that time. Zubeen Garg was married, and he had a caring wife, but she was not there with him.
Zubeen Garg liked pork, and eating pork regularly could cause a disease called Neurocysticercosis. This disease is caused by a tapeworm such as Taenia solium. After consuming pork, the eggs get hatched in the stomach, and the worm travels to other parts of the body, including the brain. The worm can interfere with the normal brain function and could cause seizures.
Zubeen Garg took treatment from a doctor in Mumbai, and was taking medications for seizures, but whether the diagnosis for tapeworm infection was done or not is a big question, because if that was not done, then it was not a proper treatment.
Death comes to everyone, and death has a design for everyone. Someone dies from an accident, someone dies from an illness, someone dies from murder or suicide, and so on. This concept of death was shown in the American movie series called Final Destination.
The design of death for Zubeen Garg started with consuming pork and ended with swimming in the sea.