THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Making a way for the folks to dance the pandemic blues away is DJ parties which have been getting back on track in the capital city and Kochi. With limited crowd adhering to Covid protocols, several restaurants and wedding receptions have been hosting DJ events across the cities in the state recently. Some of the popular DJs across the state including Arun S, Charles Yesudas and Ajin AB share how the pandemic and lockdown made these professionals jobless and how they found new ways for income.
Arun, one of the first DJs in the city, has 15 years of experience in the industry. Though positive about life, he also lost hopes when no events were held even during the festival months. “The pandemic times were hard for the DJs across the state. I owned an event management company, but in the rigid restriction, all my sources of income got blocked”. To survive, Arun opted to become a home chef by arranging a cloud kitchen at his house in Pappanamcode.
“I did not make any compromises with quality and used homemade masalas and organic vegetables for my cooking. I set up a kitchen on the top floor of my house to start Sathya Foods and started taking orders. A majority of my customers are aged 60 and above. The lockdown made me find my new skill and it is now a plan B for me if DJing is halted again,” says Arun.
Things were not different for DJ Charles aka Charles Yesudas in Ernakulam. The Alappuzha native had to get back to his hometown to look for alternative jobs to pay his rent and the expenses of his family. Charles who is the first audio-visual DJ in the state turned to home décor and indoor plants business in Alappuzha to earn a living.
“Thanks to my contacts across the country that I got through DJ events, I was able to source indoor and exotic plant varieties for my new business. I also utilised marketing through social media which helped me find customers even from North India,” explains Charles about his survival plan.
Joining his seniors is DJ Ajin for whom Pandemic was a time of mental trauma. The youngster who has been active in DJing for the past 10 years had to find a new job as an LED wall fixing worker. “I went numb when the lockdown was declared. I joined my relatives to fix LED lighting on construction sites and also managed the live streaming of weddings for their online guests and some customers to earn a living. I look forward to it as now people are conducting parties and hope we will have DJ events especially for college fests next year, ” concludes Ajin.