North East Breeze

It is not very often that a small university tucked away in the cozy corners of a cute little town gets to be witness to a live performance by a band of national fame.

The band: North East Breeze.
The university in question: Tezpur University.
The purpose: Cultural Night to wrap up the annual meet celebrations of the university.

Music show Idea Rocks India (telecast on the channel Colors) finalist, North East Breeze performed live in Tezpur University on the 26th of February, and being one of the spectators that evening was nothing but absolute gratification. Having waited for almost three hours for the star band to take place on the stage while the in-house artists performed, the crowd was, to say the least, edgy. However, after the stage set-up was finally done, and the sound check was over, the band pleasantly surprised the enthusiastic crowd by starting with a borgeet. Never before had I seen this crowd stirred by the resonating sound of the Borkaah; never before had this crowd cheered to a borgeet. Living true to their name, North East Breeze went on to perform a set of unique songs not normally heard from bands that have made it big in the nation-wide music scene.

The band moved on to folk songs next, and I wonder what magic spell they put on all the students from outside Assam who didn’t even understand the language! The crowd could be seen swaying to the rhythms, eager to dance to practically anything. My personal favorite would be when North East Breeze brought back to the life the famous Jayanta Hazarika song “Jiliki Jilika Tora Aakaxore…..” with a whole modern twist. Moving on to more conventional Bollywood music, they performed popular songs like “O Meri Jaan” (from Life In A Metro) which had gained them appreciation even in the show Idea Rocks India, “Mere Bina” (from Crook) and the title track from the movie “Mera Pehla Pehla Pyar”. After doling out a veritable feast for the ears, North East Breeze paid tribute to being truly “Oxomiya” by performing “naam”, and wrapped it all up with “Vande Mataram”.

If ever people in Assam had a doubt about our culture and our music losing its hold on the youth, North East Breeze proves them wrong by bringing about a sassy blend of the traditional and the modern, ergo making their music appealing to the mass unanimously. With the very signature of the band being their passionate commitment and dedication towards the music of North East, one can count on them to spread our music far and wide. Kudos to North East Breeze for being a breath of fresh air and keeping alive the spirit of North East, and for gifting Tezpur University a night they wouldn’t forget in a hurry!

Band Members : Anwar Hussain(Keyboards),Priyanku Bordoloi(Guitarist),Anupam Nath(Bass guitarist)Bidyut Bikash Bordoloi(percussionist),Biraj Baishya(Drummer),Rupam Bhuyam(Vocalist).

Photographs by: Arun J Bharali, Tezpur University.

We welcome your comments at letters@friedeye.com