Joining the corona 'band' wagon -- from Chanchal's 'Kitho Aaya' to Dhinchak's 'Hoga Na'

By Manik Gupta

New Delhi, Apr 6 () Maria sits in an Alpine meadow, guitar in hand and the Von Trapp children around her as she strums a tune. And no, this is not the "Sound of Music" with the much loved governess teaching "Do-Re-Mi" to her wards but giving lessons on the A-B-C of how to deal with COVID-19.

The colour is sepia, the mood nostalgic but the tone urgent as Maria (Julie Andrews) croons, "Let's start at the very beginning, a sore throat, a cough in Wuhan", and goes on to talk about how the pandemic progressed and the necessity of social isolation – all to verse and the tune of the all-time favourite song.

The 'corona cover' of the famous song was shared on YouTube by Shirley Serban from New Zealand who captioned it "Sound of a Pandemic", reportedly garnering millions of views. Back home in India, artists, amateur and professional, are joining the global chorus, sharpening their creative edge as they bring out covers and originals on the pandemic.

Rap, spiritual, soft, parody, Punjabi folk and even 'cringe pop', different genres of music are synchronising chords to reach out to people through YouTube and social media channels.

There's a ready audience.

India has been under a three-week lockdown since March 24 and millions are confined to their homes to contain the spread of the disease that has infected more than 4,400 people and claimed at least 114 lives.

Funny, informative and sometimes plain silly, the songs are sending out their message in different languages.

Indie band Friends of Linger frontman Sharif D Rangnekar has put out an original composition on social media. Titled "I will see you on the other side", the song is aimed at giving hope to quarantined souls.

"The news of coronavirus outbreak got me all worked up and paranoid. And I was in this mode that no matter what we have to come out of this. So one day while sitting at my home, I had this tune in my head, I did the basic instrumentation, and recorded the song in one go -- two hour maximum," Rangnekar told .

"The song is basically me telling myself, and others, that we will overcome this. We just need to hang in there and do the basics right -- like washing hands and not going out," he explained.

Veteran singer Narendra Chanchal has sung a 'bhajan' on the pandemic.

Topping the popularity charts is his 'bhajan' "Kitho aaya corona? (Where did corona come from)".

"Dengue vi aaya, Swine Flu vi aaya. Chickunguniya ne shor machaya. Khabre ki-ki ho na ... O, Kitthon aaya corona? Maiya Ji, Kitthon aaya corona? (There was dengue, there was swine flu. Chikungunya created some noise, too. All of it made news, but where did corona come from? Tell us dear lord)," are the lyrics of the hit song in Punjabi.

The song is from a religious gathering in Paharganj in Delhi.

A group of women singers in Rajasthan sent out the same message through a four-minute video. "Corona bhag ja, Bharat me tharo kain kam re, Corona bhag ja," are the opening lines of the song in Rajasthani.

Rapper and musician Baba Sehgal, who initially decided not to write a song on the outbreak as it was a "sensitive" issue, gave in to the temptation after he saw Prince Charles doing the traditional Indian greeting 'Namaste' on TV.

The 54-year-old rapper is now out with not one but two songs on the coronavirus.

His songs, "Namaste" and "Rab Rakha", promotes "self-isolation", "vegetarian food" and urges people to stay home and not break the chain. It also requests everyone to adopt the Indian salutation to greet each other to protect themselves against the highly contagious virus.

Prince Charles,71, who tested positive on March 25, has recovered from the disease.

'Cringe pop' star Dhinchak Pooja, an internet sensation, is also taking on the virus with her song "Hoga Na Corona". The song is loaded with all the dos' and don'ts' one needs to know to spread the contain of coronavirus.

The video, which has already garnered over millions of views, shows Dhinchak Pooja surrounded by a group of men and women dressed as doctors and with masks dancing out-of-sync.

"Hoga na corona, haath tu dhona, jaldi se sona , time na khona. Tension tum lo na, babu ho ya sona, baad mein na rona, mazaak mein na lo na (You won't catch corona if you wash your hands, sleep early and don't waste time. Don't take tension, whether you are babu or sona, don't cry later, don't take corona lightly)," go the lyrics.

Joining the bandwagon is comedienne Jamie Lever who asks pertinent questions through her song, aptly titled "Why this Corona?" sung on the tune of Dhanush's superhit "Why this Kolaveri di?"

The song, which starts with Jamie coughing and ends with her sneezing, gets into the dos and don'ts of how to protect yourself from the infection -- mask, hand sanitiser and gloves.

There is a deluge of such parody songs, all inspired from hit songs like "Patiala Peg" by Punjabi singer and actor Daljit Dosanjh or "Suno Na" by Abhijeet Bhattacharya.

The re-created Punjabi song underscores the importance of washing hands and maintaining distance from those who are suffering from cold and cough with these lyrics: "Corona ne ki pange pate, ghar te saare log baithate (Corona made us all sit at home), for instance, or "Parey Ho Ke Khang Soneya Evey Kar Na Devi Corona"( Go away and cough, else you'll infect me also).

Some musicians are looking at societal issues like communal harmony too.

Aspiring singer Tejas Ghambir has rehashed a Bollywood song, from superstar Shah Rukh Khan starrer "Chalte Chalte", to make his point.

"Ab kahan hai woh saare Hindu or Musalman, jab jaan pe aayi toh dar raha har insan. Dekh lo aur kuch to samjho na corona corona oh corona, ab toh Hindu Muslim band karo na," (Where are all those Hindus and Muslims in these times of coronavirus. Everyone is scared when one's own live is at stake. Please let us understand this now and stop this Hindu-Muslim for once and all)," are the last lines of the song. MG MIN MINMIN