‘Hello Kaun’? Bhojpuri crooners on a song as corona tracks go viral

LUCKNOW: The coronavirus may be giving jitters to people across the world, but for

Bhojpuri

music industry it has all the ingredients to make any track go viral.

So many songs have been belted out by Bhojpuri crooners in the past couple of months that it has become hard for one to keep the count. However, a casual search on the internet will throw up a long list, each song having something new to offer to listeners.

While some numbers list the dos and don'ts to check Covid-19 spread, others speak about the origin of the virus and mock it in quirky Bhojpuri style.

‘Hello kaun, coronavirus’, a song by Khushboo Uttam and Pravin Uttam, is has become quite popular where the girl is asking her China-return boyfriend to stay away.

Another song, ‘Cheen se aayil corona virus’, by Khesari Lal, is already a chartbuster.

A

singer

from Azamgarh, who uses the nickname ‘Jalim Jiyara’, has come up with a song, ‘Karona bhagiyen sarau’, in which he speaks of ways to keep the virus at bay.

“Ikkees din ke lackdaun mein ghar mein rahiya band...karona bhagiyen sarau”, thus goes the song in which the singer asks people to wash hands, wear masks, stay indoors, and cover nose and mouth while sneezing.

Similarly, ‘karona viruswa, tabah keen deswa’ by Lakhan Deewana keeps the momentum going.

Gorakhpur-based artist Rakesh Srivastava, has based his ‘pachra’ (a form of prayer) on coronavirus, “Lugwa bhayilba laachar....maiyaa baaru ho (people are helpless, where are you, goddess).”Mumbai-based chartered accountant Pankaj Jaiswal, who has founded Pardesiya Kala Sangam for conservation and promotion of

Bhojpuri language

, said: “There are at least 6 crore Bhojpuri speakers in UP. Besides, the language has retained its connect with people who are used to folk songs so much that many a times you would hear farmers singing a folk song while working in fields.”

Mushrooming recording studios which charge little for mixing and recording songs, cheaper internet and handy smartphones have added to the popularity of Bhojpuri music.

Daroga Julmi Nishad, better known as DJ Nishad, who writes promotional and campaign songs for political parties has his own small studio.

Another famous singer Saroj Sargam Kol has written a ‘biraha’ on coronavirus. Her husband Ram Milan Nishad said, “We have written the song but could not record it due to lockdown. We have it in the form of story right from how the virus originated in China and spread its tentacles across the globe.”