On that first evening in March, a small bunch of policemen and singers from a music troupe stopped outside the flat, behind a Muthoot hospital in Pathanamthitta, where many doctors stayed. With two vans containing a sound system and a mike, the small group began to sing old film songs, dedicating them all to the health workers fighting COVID-19 in the state.
They did not realise that the event would be so lauded and that many calls would come from various councillors to repeat the performance in other places.
“We must have done close to 30 performances by now, one nearly every evening,” says Pathanamthitta Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) K Sajeev, in charge of the music programmes.
He got the idea, he says, from watching the police of another state doing something similar, on a WhatsApp group. “We are associating with a music troupe called Cochin Kalastar – Kabeer, Anila and another singer called Prince join us. We also found that some in the police department could sing. For the sound system, we asked the help of the men who have been helping us with the announcements for COVID-19 awareness,” Sajeev says.
Police in #Pathanamthitta have been associating with a music troupe to entertain people during the lockdown :).
— Cris (@cristweets) April 28, 2020
They also perfomed at hospitals in honour of the health workers fighting #Covid-19#keralapolice pic.twitter.com/qkyTmR0I16
Once the music boxes were set up on the street and the little group began to sing, people came out to their balconies and doors to watch and support. “Before the performance and in between too, we give messages about COVID-19, the precautions and instructions to follow,” Sajeev adds. Residents including little children join them.
They began performing at hospitals, too. On World Health Day, they performed at the Pathanamthitta Hospital, in honour of the health workers there. The Resident Medical Officer (RMO) and a lab technician joined the show.
“We have performed at the Muthoot, Pathanamthitta and Kozhencherry hospitals,” Sajeev says.
Sometimes they would get requests from someone in quarantine, calling them to sing a certain old song for them.
“This is festival time and people are staying within their homes during the lockdown. We thought we could at least give them some sort of entertainment this way. We have been following all the protocols, too,” Sajeev says.