South Indian rapper Arivu recently put out a song ‘Vanakkam Virus’ on how the coronavirus is affecting people. The song has already received thousands of views and has become popular with social media users.
In his song, Arivu is seen wearing a mask while he talks about people lighting diyas even as others starve in thousands. He says in the song that it is pointless to shout ‘Go corona go’ and bang plates/ ring bells to make the virus go away. He highlights the loss of dignity of daily wage workers by spraying disinfectants on them, like what happened in Uttar Pradesh.
“I was very shocked that the lockdown was announced all of a sudden. Just before that, I released a song for the film Master ('Vaathi Raid'). It became a big hit. But now I think only after the lockdown is completely lifted, the movie industry will resume. I can manage for another month, and after that, I will also have to struggle a lot," he notes.
Arivu says that he was inspired to write the song after travelling during the lockdown, with a valid government pass. “A person from my family is working in emergency services, and I need to drop them off. During the journeys, I realised how hard people are struggling, and I experienced life in lockdown through them. I saw how hard doctors and government officials are working day and night to control the pandemic," he says.
“The lockdown is affecting us all very badly, just like everyone else. My payments are held up, and my sleep cycle has completely changed. My routine is not a family routine. I have a mad artist’s routine, where I barely eat and barely sleep. My fun is work. I work in the night and sleep in the day. But now that I am home due to the lockdown, my perspective has changed. I have been taught a big lesson that nothing is bigger than death. We should spend time with family, and we should eat and sleep on time," he adds.
Arivu says that he had the help of his friends to produce 'Vanakkam Virus' remotely: “l had the help of two of my friends. Anto from Coonoor produced the beat, while Satya from Chennai edited the video, and I recorded the song in my house."
Arivu says that he recorded the song without any great setup. “I kept my laptop inside my cupboard and recorded it, because I don’t have any recording facilities or mic here. And in the village area, I have no proper network. I struggled a lot to get signal. I did all sorts of stunts to send the song, standing on my terrace pointing to the sky, in different angles...such comedy scenes have happened! But finally, I was able to send the files and we were able to put the song out. Ultimately, the song has to go out!” he muses.
What made him an artist?
When asked about why he became an artist, Arivu says, “I see art as a weapon to create some change in society. I wanted to speak about the issues of people around me. I believe my work will create an impact in the minds of people. I want to tell the stories of people who are oppressed, who are working class, the unheard stories. Casteless Collective gave me the platform to perform for the first time. Parallelly, I work in cinema.”
The Casteless Collective is an indie music band based in Chennai, which was put together with support from director Pa Ranjith, known for his anti-caste films. Arivu says that though he was able to get into the film industry just after he got out of college, his family initially was not thrilled at the prospect of him pursuing such a career.
“My family was very afraid about supporting my work. They used to enjoy my poems, but they would tell me not to pursue it as a career, because they used to say things like ‘poems won’t feed you.’ But now they are seeing how I’m doing and slowly accepting it. My parents were the first to get educated in their entire generation, they believe only in education. Our only asset is education: we don’t have any land or anything to take us through tough times. They wanted me to have a good education, and then ‘you do whatever you want.’ I studied, studied, studied. I did my engineering and MBA, but I kept writing poems. At one point, I got the opportunity to work for the Casteless Collective, and through this, director Pa Ranjith had me write for the movie Kaala. After that movie, I have been able to work in many mainstream movies. We are just the reflecting mirrors of time. We are just reflecting the reality in an easy way for the generations to come. That’s why there should be humour and fun in the song, the flow and the music should be enjoyable. There are so many artforms which people can use for this. I chose hip-hop, and should do justice to my artform," he explains.
When asked about how he is dealing with this newfound attention, Arivu says that it is in fact needed, for people like him.
“From my childhood, I hadn’t gotten much attention from society. People used to mock my skin colour, mock my food, and mock me for the place I came from. I always dreamt about equality, and thought, ‘Why can’t someone treat me equally, why can’t they accept me?’ I was a lonely kid, and I have cried a lot. Not because of my mistakes, but due to social unacceptance. People around me were casually racist. They were also not aware about it, and insulted me. Even during my college days, people used to ask me, ‘Why are you always talking about society? You’re going to be a poor poet’. But on the other hand, I have also had support. My friends have even lent me their shirts during cultural programmes...when I was about to go up on stage, they would exchange their shirt with me. But ultimately, I found that our lives were never celebrated in any art form, but we are celebrating our lives in our own humble way, sitting together and eating. This new attention doesn’t affect me. My side has not gotten this. Everyone who is working hard on this land deserves this kind of attention.”
Arivu and his politics
Arivu has made very striking criticisms to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) when the movement against these laws reached a crescendo. His song 'Sanda Saivom' has thousands of hits on YouTube. After COVID-19 came into the picture, however, the anti-CAA movement had to shut shop.
“The entire country is now becoming politically aware, because the personal is the political. Whatever happens in the public sphere will affect the personal life. In a nutshell, everything in our life is political: the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the place we live, the language and slang we speak, everything has a political basis. Right now, the society is socially, economically and politically imbalanced. We should start understanding and becoming aware of it.” Arivu says, when asked about whether he got into music to create awareness.
Speaking about the anti-CAA protests, Arivu says, “I had put a caption on social media like this: our struggle will continue after this virus also. This lockdown is the time for us to become politically aware. The struggle has not ended, and there is a bigger struggle with humans rather than the virus. The protests have stopped, but right after this, we should definitely continue raising our voices for rights.”
Just because he deals with serious issues in his music, does not mean he is very serious, Arivu says. “I am a fun, humorous kind of guy. I like having fun and staying jolly with my friends. But when it comes to art, it should be presentable. Though my pain is serious, I can’t express it in a bitter way. Only if I make it sweet, you will enjoy it!”
Arivu adds, “As an artist, I want it to be new school (as opposed to old school). The new generation is going to listen to my songs. My art should not be so far from the reality that you can’t relate to it. I should pick examples from real life, and compare it with the virus, or any other issue that is happening, and then people will be able to connect to it.”
Arivu says that he is not afraid of being typecast as an anti-caste rapper.
“I came to speak about the inequalities in our society. Through my art I speak for the equality which I always wanted and cried for. My ultimate goal is to add more power to human dignity, not separatist or divisive ideologies. If people want to tag me as anything, that is their perspective. But I put out songs to this universe, that’s my job. The song and lyrics are the same, but it affects people in different ways. Whether people like or dislike my lyrics, that is their wish. But my job as an artist is to speak about things which they don’t like to talk about. The point is to raise such conversations in young people’s minds. We can’t just say ‘All Indians are my brothers and sisters.’ To understand this precisely, there should be an understanding of history. If through an understanding of historical inequalities, you say all Indians are my brothers and sisters, then that is superb, and needs more guts and more humanity inside you."
Calling himself a young artist, Arivu points out that he doesn't want to put himself in boxes but that he wishes to reflect ground realities in his art.
"For example, if you go to a village, there are two divisions in the village: upper and lower caste. But you might collectively call it ‘village’. But the village people will further ask, which place in the village are you going to go? Caste and divisions are everywhere in the society, but no one speaks about it. There are the landless, there are landowners, and they all stay in an informal social distancing. There is so much we can see if we approach things in this perspective: everything is affected by the divisions here. But people will skip the conversation and raise sympathies or completely avoid it. The indifference has affected everyone in this society. Either it benefits you, or kills you," he says.
Arivu admits that he is also subjected to hate for what he's attempting to do with his music but notes that he's just here to tell his story.
"I have listened to your story for all these ages, now it is your turn to listen to my life, and I work with this perspective," he adds.
Arivu says that a lot of work goes into the making of each of his songs. “I do a lot of research to write my songs. Rap is a tool for me to communicate, and there are so many unheard voices on my side. There are so many who were extremely talented, but who passed this life and their talents never came into the spotlight. I’m just a small ray of hope from their side, and I feel I should work diligently to make songs, I cannot be careless in my work. But I make sure that I have fun while I’m at it. Right now, I’m reading The Buddha and His Dhamma (by BR Ambedkar) and writing poems. But at the same time, I worry about people who are daily wage labourers, how are they living now? I feel like it is my duty to raise awareness about their plight."
Coming back to 'Vanakkam Virus', Arivu says, "In every crisis, the most affected are the working-class. Especially the migrant workers. When I saw the videos of the workers walking home in north India, it broke me, seeing a child walking hundreds of kilometres. I’m an emotional guy, and I write songs out of emotion. I saw that the economically poor are affected the most, I saw my neighbours and surroundings too. I wanted to raise awareness about this great tragedy, and raise alarm about the realities. Every household is affected by this. Let’s hope this lockdown ends soon, so we can go back to our normal lives."
Listen to Arivu's latest song 'Vanakkam Virus.