The singer from Palakkad took requests to sing several Malayalam film songs from different eras.
Throughout the 50-minute live show watched by over 5,400 people, Harish requested people to stay indoors to break the chain of the virus’s spread.
A trained Carnatic classical singer, Harish has of late adapted progressive rock elements in his delivery. His band is mainly made up of his classmates.
Harish promised to return another day for such a session. A local BJP leader was also among those who placed requests before Harish.
Kerala state DYFI secretary A.A. Rahim told this newspaper that the organisation had lined up another Facebook Live session with popular movie singer Sithara on Friday. “Several artistes have offered their time to educate people about the need to stay at home and maintain other safety measures,” Rahim said.
Harish later told this correspondent that singing and interacting with people would help soothe frayed nerves.
“There is certainly a dearth of positivity in times like this. So more than just entertaining, we can bring in that positivity by singing a few songs,” he said.
Harish suggested that it would be better if Facebook Live shows by musicians could be monetised to help musicians in distress because of the virus crisis.
“There are aged musicians who might need help. As a musician I can’t handle money. But organisations such as the DYFI can,” he said.
“Of the 5,400 people who watched my show, at least 1,000 would have contributed Rs 50 each and a sum of several such activities could help musicians in distress since there is going to be a dry six months ahead of us,” Harish said.
Carnatic singer Harish Telegraph picture
Artistes in Kerala have been spreading awareness about the coronavirus pandemic and suggesting ways to utilise spare time during the lockdown through videos that are meant to entertain and educate in equal measure
Renowned classical dancer Methil Devika has come up with a dance composition conceptualising the battle against the virus. Based on Kerala’s Mohiniyattam genre of classical dance, Devika performs to a composition of the legendary Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar of the 18th century.
Dikshitar, Tyagaraja and Shyama Shastri are known as the Trimurti, or the trinity, of Carnatic music.
Devika’s YouTube video, which has been viewed close to 20,000 times since being uploaded on Wednesday, has an introduction by state health minister K.K. Shailaja who dwells on the importance of artistes coming forward to do their bit for the society.
In her introduction to the four-minute composition filmed in elegant settings at her home in Thiruvananthapuram, Devika gives a brief on her performance. “Mankind has always been confronted by three kinds of miseries: one caused by nature, the other caused by other people, and the third caused by the self, for example fear,” she says.
“So if the virus is something that has been caused by nature, one can’t ignore the fact that we have been great contributors to it,” the danseuse says.
Devika later explained to The Telegraph the importance of going back to the basics, like finding time for the family and eliminating meaningless commercialism.
“When I decided to do something for the times, I knew this was the best composition to narrate how mankind has to overcome this misery,” she said.
The dancer, who did her masters in performing arts from Rabindra Bharati University in Calcutta before doing her doctorate, saw Dikhsitar’s lines as the most ideal to describe the coronavirus crisis.
“O Nature! Help us overcome the three kinds of miseries. Those created by nature, by other beings, and by one’s mind (fear, depression),” goes the English subtitles in the video.
Devika conveys her message through the lines about mankind confronted by a demon, interpreted here as the coronavirus.
The dancer then dwells on how the virus had crossed oceans to infect humankind all over the world, and also speaks about the symptoms such as fever, cough and breathlessness.
Devika uses several easy-to-follow mudras (hand gestures) on how to maintain hand hygiene and social distancing.
“They were mystical composers who knew the importance of being minimalistic. I think it’s time for all of us to go back to minimalism,” Devika says in the video.
“It is time for us to draw a line and learn the lesson from corona that has come as a leveller,” she says, alluding to how the rich and the poor were suffering the same way.
With people more or less confined to their homes, the ruling Left Front has been getting renowned artistes to engage people online.
On Wednesday, the DYFI, the youth wing of the CPM, hosted
Harish Shivaramakrishnan, the hugely popular lead vocalist of the band Agam, in a Facebook Live session.