How singer Akhu touches lives of locals in most unique way
Source: The Sangai Express / TNT News

Imphal, February 03 2017: At the time when Manipur is reeling under severe economic blockade, a singer has taken to himself to address the most challenging crises of the time.

Akhu Chingangbam , the Manipur-based musician is a familiar face in the North East: he is the face of popular folk-rock band Imphal Talkies, a unique group that focuses on protest songs, reflecting the injustice and violence faced by his people in Imphal and Manipur.

Akhu finally began his independent journey with "A Native Tongue Called Peace" with the support from Guwahati based NGO Foundation for Social Transformation.

"1 believe that humans across the world were bom clean, unbiased, and innocent," Chingangbam said.

"Each of us has a voice that comes from within and my voice happens to be peace.

It's not just me.

there are many people out there looking for peace" .

Since its formation, A Native Tongue Called Peace has helped create a sense of community among Manipuri children.

Chingangbam said he rarely sermonises while teaching the children music.

"Peace is within them because they're so young and innocent," he said.

"I've seen a Meitei girl singing a Kabui song and a Tangkhul girl singing a Meiteilon song.

This is rare because as you know, each community and each tribe has their own propaganda.

Singing a song from a particular community or tribe can often be seen as an act of ignoring one's indigenous identity.

We need to learn a lot from these children" .

"Right now, we're working on a song called Dream Keeper which has words like guns, bombs, and death.

X sometimes wonder whether these words are even appropriate for a child to sing, but we live with these realities.

The children have gone through so much that censoring these words just doesn't make sense" .

Using crowd-funding, he has managed to organise everything from classes to heart surgery for one of his students, raising Rs 1.5 lakh in two weeks.

"The project takes place at only one children home with 65 children, but I'm planning to reach out to another home," the artist said.

"I'm looking out for funding to support the project, to buy music instruments and to hire teachers for the new home.

I have a plan to make the project sustainable.

I believe I'm wiser now" .

As the intiative grows in popularity, Chingangbam has managed to rope in other independent musicians like Guru Rewben, Rudy Wallang and Rahul Ram to collaborate with the children.

"These children have no idea who Rewben, Rudy or Rahul are but they are welcoming and they love to meet new people," he said, describing the first time outsiders came to meet the children at their home.

"They loved performing with Rahul.

These collaborations are very much a part of the project and I want to bring in more arlists.

At the same lime, it costs me u lot" .

TNT News (With inputs from Scroll.in) .

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