Chele comprising of four female musicians including Velulu, Alhile, Akhrou and Ruth, performing at the De Oriental Grand Kohima on May 18 under the theme, “This is my Song. This is my Story.”
Morung Express News
Kohima | May 18
In a celebration of joy, resilience and story of four female musicians, ‘Chele’ including Velulu, Akhrou, Ruth and Alhile on May 18 performed for a packed audience at the De Oriental Grand Kohima under the theme, “This is my Song. This is my Story”.
Chele made their debut concert at the King Chilli Dimapur on April 6 and will be very soon performing at the 23rd Baptist World Congress scheduled to be held in Brisbane, Australia from July 7-12, 2025.
Giving a brief introduction of Chele, Velulu recalled that they have been singing together since Sunday school days but that they never talked about forming a group.
Chele happened naturally, she said while expressing that the group’s name was chosen because they wanted their songs to be songs of praises to God, the giver of every beautiful thing including music.
“It is also an accumulation of so many things-our passion for music and personal experiences in life, our realised and unrealised dreams and our spoken and unspoken thoughts on love, loss, grief, faith and hope, and also celebration of friendship and motherhood”, she highlighted.
Stating that Chele is something that did not take off in their prime age, she also remarked that, “We are in our forties, in the heart of motherhood, raising teenagers, and caring for aging parents”, which also poses challenges of memorising songs among other things.
Putting across that the timing is not perfect, Velulu however affirmed that, “God is not bound by time and does things that are best for His children at any stage and at any time.”
She further exuded hope that this blend of assembled harmony will go beyond sound and give them a place to claim their identity beyond work and life, and enable them to write their stories.
Among the many soulful songs, Chele also performed a Chakhesang folk song during which Ruth shared that they grew up singing a lot of contemporary songs. “But one of the biggest challenges have been learning to sing our own folk songs”, she said while expressing that, “we realised the value of folk music a little too late.” She however noted that they are pushing themselves to learn not just for themselves but also for the sake of their children.
Ruth’s family including her husband, Zaseto Sasü and their daughter, Jewel also performed during the occasion.
