- Tuesday, April 23, 2024
By: Neeraj Krishna
INDIAN MINISTER Ramdas Athawale has become a ‘corona-viral’ sensation, with his “Go, Corona” chant getting trance, dub and Carnatic remix versions.
The Union minister of state for social justice, who was re-elected to Parliament on Wednesday (19), is a Dalit activist known for his wit and poetry.
A video clipping of Athawale chanting “Go, Corona…Corona, go!”, along with the Chinese consul general Tang Guocai and a group of Buddhists, at the Gateway of India in Mumbai had recently gone viral with the #GoCorona hashtag trending online.
Just tell it to leave…. Why didn’t anyone think of that before? #CoronagoCorona presented by our Minister for Social Justice and Chinese Consul-General in Mumbai. pic.twitter.com/1VZemyPYOu
— Suhasini Haidar (@suhasinih) March 10, 2020
Soon, the chant got numerous remix versions. Among the popular ones, first came a peppy “trance” track by an artist named Vaibhav Londhe.
You loved the #GoCorona Trance Audio Soo much how can we resist to make a Music Video. Smiling face with heart-shaped eyes #VaibhavLondhe #COVID19india #RamdasjiAthawle @MoHFW_INDIA
@WHO
Awareness Video #StaySafe https://t.co/BgMBAIeCoG pic.twitter.com/LB932Xu0ob— Vaibhav Londhe (@VaibhavLondhe90) March 16, 2020
This was followed by a dub remix by Siddharth Sharma aka Dub Sharma.
karuna please go ???? pic.twitter.com/FgxsCdu04l
— dub sharma (@dubsharma) March 15, 2020
Responding to the post, Bollywood actress Richa Chadha tweeted: “Hey Dub, Can I do some choreography on this? Thanks.”
Hey Dub,
Can I do some choreography on this ?
Thanks. https://t.co/bwFgxiY8mZ— TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) March 15, 2020
Popular Indian Carnatic progressive rock band Agam’s lead singer Harish Sivaramakrishnan came up with a Carnatic version on Wednesday (18) during an “impromptu song sessions on Facebook” that was lapped up by fans across the world.
“Go corona – Ragamalika (Carnatic style)… Please note – singing this or any other ‘cover’ version of the same won’t help stop the spread of covid 19,” said a message before the recording.
On being asked about his now-legendary chant, Athawale said, “It was one slogan with various meanings. It showed concern, appeal and suggestion at once.”
He added that his intention was to draw public attention to the outbreak, and how the world wanted the coronavirus to go away.
Well, he has indeed caught widespread attention with even toddlers in India mimicking his “Go, Corona” chant.
More importantly, an Indian newspaper noted: “Amid the tension over the spread of coronavirus, veteran politician Ramdas Athawale has given some moments to smile.”
