Puppet dance of Assam Image Credit: northeastindia24

Words may inspire you but a song will go a long way to fully motivate you and that’s just the idea folks artists of Nalbari are working on. To raise awareness about everyone’s democratic right to vote, folks artists from the town are coming together to deliver a message to the residents through an array of folk song and musical performances that everyone must exercise their right to vote, according to a report in TOI.

The songs will be sung with the traditional folk tunes of Biya naams (marriage songs) but the wordings will be on voters’ rights and on exercising their franchises,” notes Nalbari deputy commissioner Bharat Bhushan Dev Choudhury in a statement.

Highlighting the fact that Nalbari has a rich heritage of folk-art performances, the deputy commissioner pointed out that it will be a unique kind of awareness campaign and a great way to engage young generations to this rich cultural heritage of Assam.

Over 100 folk artists are collaborating in this district-wide awareness campaign to perform various art forms that include dhuliya, puppetry, biya naam and ojha paali.

Choudhury hopes that using folk arts to deliver contemporary messages will work both ways. It will not only awareness about the necessity to vote but will also attract younger generations to the elegance and richness of folk music and performances.

Troupes of folk artists will cover the length and breadth of the town of Nalbari including remote areas that are difficult to access to reach out to more and more people and inspire and educate them to vote.

“The campaign will stop two days before the date of polling,” Choudhury stated.