BENGALURU: How has the pandemic changed the course for students? Is online education distancing students from their peers? All of these questions which are often raised by educators, parents and others, have been put together in the form of a song by a city-based rapper. Gajendra Guru recently released a song titled Online Class, featuring Bengaluru-based fashion designer Laxmi Krishna, her son Viaan Krishna and other young school students who have been attending online school since the last one-and-a-half years.
Conceptualised by Guru, the song captures the various emotions students feel about studying from home. Interestingly, the rapper had written only four lines while he was on his way to Mysuru to record the song. By the time he reached the destination, he managed to mind-map the entire song. “It would be apt to say that the song was born during my bus journey towards Mysuru.
I boarded the bus with just the first four lines of the song. However, I managed to pen the entire song by the time I reached Mysuru. The song is a mere reflection on the reality of online class that is spoiling the joy of childhood days of students who are confined to homes due to the pandemic,” says Guru.
The rap song also depicts how school bags and uniforms are fading and how excess time is being spent on digital devices. Krishna says, “They are cut-off from reality. The song is a reflection of the new normal. I believe students are humans and cannot work like machines. Online classes stress them out. However, the song is not a complaint against online education, but highlights the lifestyle of children due to online classes. The concept has clicked with youngsters because many of them are making reels around this issue.”