KOCHI: After the floods wrung the entire state, help came in cash and kind from all quarters. Everyone in the state has been doing everything they can to #RebuildKerala. As an add-on to these efforts, music band Oorali has brought out a Spanish video appealing to the global public to support Kerala at this time of crisis. In the video released on the band’s Facebook page on Saturday, the group is seen jamming inside a van at some picturesque location in Thrissur.
Oorali’s vocalist Martin addresses the viewers with “Hola!”. After introducing the band in Spanish, he goes on to say “something very important”. After explaining the geography of the state, he elaborates on the flood situation that scared Malayalis all over the world and how professionals, the police force, Fire and Rescue Services personnel and, most importantly the fisherman saved many lives.
Towards the end of the video, Martin gives two options for the public to help out. In the first, he urges people to donate to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund, while in the second, he asks artists to get involved with children in their rehabilitation activities.
Though the video is in Spanish, it has been subtitled in English. It has now more than 13,000 views. The idea for the video arose after the band realised that there were a larger number of people outside India who did not know about the disaster in Kerala. “We had a fan base in Latin America,” says lead guitarist Saji. “The state government cannot cope with this alone. The video aims to amplify the disaster, seeking expertise and technical support to tackle it. We chose Spanish because it is the most spoken language in the world after English and Mandarin.”
According to Saji, the group have also been doing relief work. “After a while, we began thinking what we, as artists, can do to help,” says Saji. “That’s when a friend talked to us about children and their mental health.” Since then, the band has been involved with children at relief camps. “It is all about community experiences,” he says. “Through this, we work to uplift their morale and improve their mental strength.”