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Indian musicians across languages wrote songs on COVID-19
Updated On: 14 March, 2020 08:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Shunashir Sen
The global panic around COVID-19 has led to a bunch of Indian musicians across languages writing songs about the coronavirus. But is any of it worth listening to?
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Sawan Dutta aka Bengali Aunty in a still from her music video on coronavirus
It was earlier this week when a video surfaced where Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale is shown employing his own, unique defence mechanism to tackle COVID-19. In it, the minister is seen repeatedly chanting "Go corona, corona go" in a deadpan voice, while Chinese Consul General in Mumbai Tang Guocai stands next to him sporting a sheepish expression. The same frame shows a bunch of people holding candles in their hands, making the whole thing appear as if it's a peaceful, non-resistant movement against the dreaded disease. They make it seem as if the coronavirus is akin to Sir John Simon, whose arrival in India during the height of the freedom struggle was greeted with cries of "Simon, go back" ringing in the air.
We will leave it up to you to determine whether the minister's strategy is an effective one in fighting a pandemic that has led to over 5,000 deaths worldwide. But when Pune-based singer Vaibhav Londhe saw the video, he saw potential in it — not medical, but musical. He tells us, "I felt that the chant had a rhythm to it that got into my head. So I decided to create some bass lines, layer beats on them, and compose an electronic track that listeners can get hooked to. I also added bits from the caller tune that the government has mandated on phones to warn people against the virus, including the helpline number. The idea was to spread awareness via music, a medium I am comfortable with and which people can listen to and enjoy at the same time."
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