Guwahati, Nov. 10: It’s not only songs and literature about his father that Tez Hazarika wants to come back to this region for.

He fondly recalls his visit to a school, Siddhartha Kendra Vidyalaya, in North Lakhimpur in 2006. The students, the teachers — they are all etched in his memory.

The school and his attachment to it find expression in his talk about the school. “I have not been able to keep in contact with them regularly. But in the coming days, I will definitely like to be actively involved,” he said.

The school, which has 85 students, is under the Tathagata Trust, the website of which enlists Tez Hazarika as its honorary member. The president of the trust, Chandan Siam Gogoi, said Tez was currently the academic director of the school.

Asked about his involvement with the school, Tez replied shyly, “I wrote the content of their website.”

Gogoi grows nostalgic when he talks about Bhupen mama. “I call him Bhupen mama. In 2006, I had accompanied Bhupen mama and Tezda to Tezpur. We stayed there for three days and went to places like Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh.”

The following year, Tez went to North Lakhimpur and inaugurated the Siddhartha Kendra Vidyalaya at Charaimoria, 3km from North Lakhimpur town.

The school now has classes from kindergarten to class VI and Gogoi hopes to introduce class V next year.

“There are 85 children studying in the school and it is looked after by five teachers. Most of them are underprivileged children and we try to provide them with almost free education,” said Gogoi.

As it’s impossible for Tez to be present in the school, he makes it a point to update himself about it and the children regularly by being in touch with Gogoi. “We keep connected through Skype. Tezda is very concerned about the children here,” Gogoi said.

Clad in a white vest and dhoti, Tez today began his day by immersing the pinda (mortal remains) of his father at Sukreshwar ghat. He followed all rituals religiously, breaking his daylong fast with hobis (boiled food) in the evening.

Now that his son, Sage, is in college, he said he will have time to travel and he wants to make the Northeast a destination of his travel plans.

“I have not been able to come here frequently in the past as I was tied up with many works. Now with my son in college, I will have time to travel. I want to work on several projects involving my father. This includes some of his musical works and literature concerning him,” he said.