‘Hurricane Girls’, Assam’s first all-female rock group, enthralls India Today Conclave – East.

“We wanted to make a band, and we wanted that band to be unique”, Mamoni Kalita, lead singer of Assam’s first all-female rock group mused during a session of India Today Conclave – East.

Tracing the origins of the band, Hurricane Girls’ lead singer Mamoni Kalita said that the beginnings were rough because it was rare for women to perform live instruments on stage.

“My parents wanted to make me chart a different. But I told my mother I wanted to be a musician. Whenever someone used to leave instruments in our house, I would play those all night,” she added.

Asked about the bad’s unique incorporation of folk and rock, she said: “In Assam, we have so much folk music that you won’t be able to finish singing. We are all interested in folk. Thus, we planned to do something in the folk genre. An early folk song by us became popular and was demanded by the audience.”

The group, which uses traditional Assamese music instruments like dhol, nagada and dotara with modern instruments to create a musical fusion, then performed a string of popular songs to enthrall the audience. 

The band, formed on the Friendship Day of 2010, first performed a fusion rendition of Assam’s traditional ‘Oja’, which was followed by a Bihu song. They then performed their popular song ‘E Dehi E Dehi.’ The ‘Hurricane Gals’ next covered a song by Padma Shri awardee Pratima Pandey Baruah. They wrapped up the mini-set with a fused version of a traditional marriage song.

In 2010, the idea for an all-girl rock band arose in a little-known village called Nahira near Mirza town, about 30 kilometres from Guwahati. 

Kalita, the lead vocalist, composer, and director, and her drummer friend Arju Begum take the initiative to form the band. Their wish was granted in August 2010 when some young instrumentalists volunteered to be a part of this initiative. 

Now, Mamoni Kalita, Progyashi, Kaberi, Chinmoyee, Luku, Barnali Das Baruah, Dikishita Kashyap make up the band.

Mobilizing resources needed to buy instruments and meet other band expenses was a major hurdle they had to overcome, and they eventually took a bank loan of Rs four lakh to buy instruments.

The band's musical journey began in 2011 when they performed at a cultural function hosted by a coaching institute at Guwahati's Rabindra Bhawan. The audience was young, and the band took advantage of the opportunity to showcase their talent.