Aarundakki ee gender roles?
When Karthik Krishnan sings Aanaayal Karayalle Pennayal Kuniyalle, questioning who made gender rules, we can’t help wondering the same.
The song by the 28-year-old social media influencer from Kochi has been getting shared widely online, ever since it was up, a few days ago. Just like his previous works, The Kalyanam Rap and Sex Education Rap, the gender roles song has also been winning applause from Gen Z, raising eye-brows on their family online groups and urging conventional minds to (at least) ponder the song’s theme.
Karthik, who is known to his followers by his channel name ‘
The Humble Musician
’ or ‘Humblealiyan,’ says his songs, which are often shared even by celebs, stem from his own experiences. He says, “I was into making romantic songs and the like at first. It’s during the lockdown that I began using the musical skills I have, to spread progressive themes. And what triggered them often are my own experiences and what I have observed in the lives of my cousins or friends. For example, how our teachers ask us to read chapters on reproduction on our own, leading many young kids to get half-baked misinformation from porn sites and the like.”
The musician, who is also working at a telecom company in Kozhikode, interestingly wrote his latest song in just five minutes! “I wanted to do something on gender roles for a long time, but have been busy with work. At first, I thought I should rap about it. But, a few weeks ago, I bought my ukulele, and that pushed me to make it into a song. I never thought it would be embraced so widely,” says Karthik. How are women responding to his observations on their plight? “A few girls told me that they shared it in their family groups with some trepidation, but did it regardless, as the song explains their predicament,” he says.
Karthik says he has seen many of his cousins and friends, who are women, forced to get married quite early on in life. “The explanation given is that they should be done with childbirth before they turn 30! It’s as though the aim of their life is procreation. I have often wondered, what if they were meant for bigger things in life. Similarly, men too face stereotypical expectations like earning a well-paying job, a house and a car, and that’s why I brought them into the song,” Karthik explains. Negative feedback is also part of the game, but the musician says he generally ignores them and his family is quite supportive.
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