Music video depicting Hubbali village kids' views on school reopening goes viral

Giving an audio-visual representation to the feelings of several students who are missing the experience of going to schools and playing outdoors freely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a unique video song has emerged from a village in Hubballi Rural taluk.

Written by a teacher, the 'Geleyera Jodi Aatilla, Shaalyaga Teacher Paatilla' (no play with friends, no lesson by teachers in school) song is sung by a student. Other children in the village have also acted in this. Basavaraj Koliwad, a teacher at Smt Rudramma Rayappa Gunjal Primary School at Koliwad village, has written this song and made the video involving children.

In addition to its relevance for the present situation when hopes are being expressed about the reopening of schools, this music video is also grabbing the attention of viewers due to its typical North Karnataka dialect of Kannada language.

Basavaraj Koliwad has so far written hundreds of songs in folk style and has also sung some of them on audio and video platforms. This time, he trained sixth standard student Basavaraj Pujar to sing and act in this video. All visuals are shot at Koliwad village itself, using the teacher's mobile phone.

Kids' feelings

The video song depicts children's memories about their life before the pandemic, how they learnt in schools and played with their friends, and also their wish to have the same days again.

"Children, parents, and even teachers in our village are not happy due to the absence of offline classes. I interacted with some students to know their feelings on this issue, and I wrote a song on that basis. Basavaraj Pujar of our school practised the singing for two weeks, and I shot the visuals for two days," says Basavaraj Koliwad.

Basavaraj recorded the song at a sound recording facility at Hebballi village, and he spent Rs 3,000 for that. He used the mobile phone for editing also, and the video song is now available on YouTube.

Music of a 'DJ-style song' prevalent at the local level was adapted for this song. The school management, teachers, and the villagers extended co-operation to make this five-minute video song. Another video song was prepared six months back when there was a possibility of school reopening, he noted.

Basavaraj is now writing a song on safety measures to be taken to prevent Covid-19 spread, especially when schools reopen, and he is planning to once again involve children in that.