World Music Day: Lockdown lessons learnt by singers

By Natalia Ningthoujam 

New Delhi, June 21  Singers like Papon, Dhvani Bhanushali and Jasbir Jassi have been using music to try and help people beat lockdown stress. It has also taught them a few life lessons that will stay with them forever, confides the music community ahead of World Music day on June 21.

India entered complete lockdown in March to curb a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases. It’s been nearly three months of lockdown, and the singers have now shared what they learnt from this new experience.

“I think the biggest lesson we all have learnt is to never take nature for granted. One has to respect Mother Nature for what she has been giving us. We must learn when to stop. We needed to slow down a bit and relook at life as it is now,” Papon told IANS.

Singer Jasbir Jassi shared that COVID-19 might have “disturbed the economy and work related things, but nothing in terms of creativity. People who work only for money might have been facing problems but lockdown has given an opportunity to enhance your creativity”.

Dhvani Bhanushali thinks it’s all about loving and taking care of yourself. “In normal life, we are so busy running around that we sometimes end up not taking utmost care of ourselves,” she said.

Akasa is grateful for all that she has, especially her family and everything “I have been given in life. It’s the small little things that truly matter”.

For Jasleen Royal, the deal is simple. “I have learnt to do nothing. Sometimes you need to stop doing things and I have found that really hard in the past,” she said.

The lockdown phase also means family time and engaging in interesting activities.

“I have been spending maximum time with my family and music. I feel grateful that I have the opportunity to do music with them at home. Also, I have been cooking. My brother and I did an entire restaurant setting at home for a special occasion. I’ve been gardening and planting too. Another thing is that it’s been a good time to connect with fans digitally since everyone is at home and the only way we can connect with each other is through the virtual world,” said Shilpa Rao.

Jubin Nautiyal has started working on his electric guitar scales. “I have started learning a new language and started singing English music. There were a billion things I wanted to do but I wasn’t able to do because of my hectic schedules but again I find myself in this place where I have all the time in the world to do all those favourite things that I want to, so in one word, I am growing as a human being,” said the singer, who has been spending his lockdown days with his family in Himachal Pradesh.

Singer Payal Dev has been adapting to new ways of working and communicating with others. “Fortunately, we have a home studio, so me and my husband have been working on a lot of new music and trying to put out as much as possible. We have been fortunate and are actually having fun spending time together,” she said.

For Akasa, the three months have been different. “It started off with just chilling, taking the time to rest, refresh, doing things I hadn’t done before like cooking, house chores, doodling and eating junk. The second month, I tried finding a way to get some work done, so did a lot of music. Set up a studio at home and worked. I’m currently in the 3rd month and I have finally started trying to make this the normal. I’m working out, cycling, and just trying to form a routine,” she said.

As for keeping his creative side active, Papon made a song called “Paar Hobo Aei Xomoy”.

“I composed, sung and wrote it. I even shot its video myself at home and edited it. I worked on a lot of new compositions. Some have released and some are going to release very soon. During this lockdown, I learnt how to shoot and edit the video, which I think we all must know. I got a lot of time to write,” said Papon.

Dhvani, on the other hand, worked a lot on herself. “From taking care of my skin to continue my training in music and working out to learning how to cook along with my younger sister, I think I’ve discovered a few things about myself,” she said.

(Natalia Ningthoujam can be contacted at natalia.n@ians.in)