Filipino polymath Jose Rizal once said: “The youth is the hope of our future.” But the increasing levels of pollution in the city have put their future in jeopardy. Affected by the prevailing situation, Satyansh Yadav, 18, has released a three-minute pollution rap titled Kamaal Hai on YouTube.
Here’s a gist:
School band, kaam band, sab tham gaya,
Vo dekh bachcha asthama se mar raha
(Schools closed, construction banned, everything is still,
And the kids are dying due from asthama)
Yadav, a Class 12 commerce student at Shikshantar School, Gurugram, says he composed his observations in the song as he felt people will relate to the lyrics and change their habits. “We had our final economics tests in school, and everyone was tensed about it. Around that time, the government announced shutting down of schools and ban on any type of construction due to the high PM 2.5 levels in Delhi-NCR. The test got postponed and I didn’t have anything else to do.”
Watching and reading the news about the toxic air quality over and over again, made him compose the rap number. “I wrote the song in an hour and immediately contacted a friend to help me make the video. I also decided to make my classmates a part of the initiative,” says Yadav. As it was not possible for them to gather at one place to shoot the video, everyone was asked to record their designation clips over the phone at home and send it to him.
“The video was ready in two weeks and was also played during a protest against pollution attended by 600 people at Leisure Valley in November,” says Yadav, who also organised an informal rap battle for students when he was in Class 10.
Another line says, “Khud hi chalaye patakhe aur hote naraaz ab (People burst crackers themselves and are now making hue and cry over the situation) “I want to use this art form to help make our city a better place to live in. The purpose of the video is not only to spread the message about the rising pollution levels owing to our unfair practices but also to show that the younger generation is ready to take the necessary steps and bring about a change,” adds Yadav, who looks up to international rappers Eminem and Token.
Car-pooling, cycling to school, and distributing woollen clothes and anti-pollution masks to the underprivileged are other efforts Yadav and his friends are undertaking.