Tarali Sharma (right) with a destitute child during the release of her cassette on Saturday. Picture by S.H. Patgiri

Nov. 23: She calls them songs of love and light, hoping they will drown the cacophony of violence and remove the darkness all around.

Popular singer-composer Tarali Sarma has come up with two albums, Poohar (light) and Sneha (love), to help raise funds for homeless children in the city. Appropriately, the twin albums were released yesterday by the youngest inmate of Snehalaya, the drop-in shelter for children. Fr. Lukose Cheruvalel, the founder director of Snehalaya, said during the function at Guwahati Press Club that Tarali’s concern for homeless children was truly inspirational.

“There is darkness and hatred all around, but Tarali Sarma sings of light and love in the twin audiocassettes, containing 16 sarvadharma devotional songs in Assamese,” he said.

Tarali decided to do something for homeless children after a visit to Snehalaya on June 16. The shelter, located at Fancy Bazar, is the only ray of hope for hundreds of homeless children who roam the streets of the city.

“Children can simply walk into our home. They have the freedom to do anything they want — play, watch television, attend literacy classes, learn songs, make candles or just indulge in mundane activities like cooking their own food and washing their clothes,” Fr. Lukose said.

In a bid to build self-esteem among street children, Snehalaya offers an incentive of Rs 5 per hour to boys who work in the kitchen or make candles. Some earn upto Rs 200 a month by doing these things. “We once took some kids to the market to buy clothes with the money they had earned. The happiness on their faces had to be seen to be believed,” the founder director said.

Snehalaya mooted the idea of releasing audiocassettes of Assamese devotional songs in aid of homeless children when Tarali expressed her desire to do something for them. Lyricist Ujjal wished not to be identified by his real name.

“All 16 songs penned by Ujjal are inspirational, devotional and value-based. It is the kind of music that makes you sit back and think. Most of the songs are simple, catchy and very melodious. They are most suitable for community singing. After you listen to them, you cannot stop humming,” Fr. Lukose said. Tarali is the eldest daughter of flautist Prabhat Sarma.