Agartala: Thanga Darlong, a nonagenarian tribal musician, who plays Rosem, a flute like tribal musical instrument made of bamboo, was conferred Atal Bihari Vajpayee Life Time Award by the Tripura government.

Tripura Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Devvarma handed over the first AB Vajpayee Life Time Achievement Award to Darlong on Thursday at the Agartala Book Fair and congratulated him for preserving the musical form. Earlier in January this year, the 99-year old tribal musician was conferred the prestigious Padma Shri award for his contribution to the field of music.