Happy (2nd from left) made other musicians 'happy' with his prodigious musical talent. PHOTO COURTESY: starbangladesh.com

Shortly after our War of Liberation in 1971, Azam Khan, soon to become a legend on the rock scene, along with Uchharon and the Akhand Brothers (Lucky and Happy) created a hype in the music industry with their straight-down-the-line magnetic songs. Happy Akhand's "Abar Elo Je Shondha" is a milestone and probably one of the most poignant songs ever produced. His premature death on December 28, 1987 was a big blow to all musicians who were influenced by Happy's passion for music and had now lost a pioneering figure in Bangla pop music.
Happy Akhand gave everything towards helping to blossom many musical flowers in a desert. His contributions to folk, band and above all Bangla music are immense. Ignoring his own career, he worked for others, including Firoz Shai.
"Happy directed music for many timeless songs, including "Emon Ekta Maa Dena" (recorded by Ferdous Wahid), "Torey Putuler Moto Korey Sajiye" (recorded by Kumar Bishwajit). Happy promoted Ayub Bachchhu, James and Miles with his guitar, keyboard and practical lessons," said Happy's elder brother Lucky Akhand.
Happy Akhand was born on October 12, 1960. In spite of his all too brief life, Happy made other singers, musicians and band artistes happy with his prodigious musical talent. He could not record many songs. Yet music lovers recall songs like "Khola Akasher Moto Tomakey Hridoy Diyechhi", "Swadhinata Tomakey Niye Gaan To Likhechhi", "Ke Banshi Bajaye Rey", "Tumi Amar Prothom Premer Gaan", "Polatok Shomoyer Haat Dhorey", Tumi Ki Dekhechho Pahari Jhorna", "Neel Neel Shari Porey", "Ei Prithibir Bukey Aashey Jara Nei Ki Tader Kono Asha" recorded by Happy. Happy's "Ei Prithibir Bukey Aashey Jara" reveals his eternal inner pain.
"Happy could not render so many numbers. Or we could say it was the result of negligence towards him. My heart bleeds from the pain. The condition of radio and television was abysmal. Media had not flourished. I have plans to do something for Happy. I would like to arrange musical shows in his memory and institute a prize after his name," said Lucky Akhand.
"Happy could have been established as a legend in our musical scene. I received all the love, blessings and honour at HMV Calcutta (now Kolkata) where I worked with Manna Dey, Hemanta Mukherjee, RD Burman, Manabendra and other legends. I was the most junior composer at HMV and composed songs for Gora Chand Mukherjee, Banoshree Sengupta and others. I took the record of Happy's song "Abar Elo Je Shondha" with me. One day in 1972, I played the record at Banoshree Sengupta's residence. Hearing the song, Manna Dey and RD Burman were much impressed. Later, in 1975, Happy sang eleven songs at a concert in Durgapur, Beerbhum. RD Burman and Asha Bhonsle were the main attraction of the concert. After the concert, RD Burman appreciated Happy profusely for his performance and playing of guitar," concluded Lucky Akhand.