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Combating coronavirus: Dubai teen spreads awareness about Covid-19 in 22 languages

Dubai - Suchetha is a double world record holder for most languages sung in one concert.

A 14-year-old Dubai student is spreading positivity and awareness on Covid-19 in 22 languages by singing and composing songs.
Calling herself a Covid-19 warrior, Suchetha Satish has been recording the Covid-19 awareness song - written by her mother Sumitha Ayilliath - in Arabic and 21 Indian languages. Her song in Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Assamese were also released by the Kerala government as part of their 'Break the Chain' campaign. It will be used in Kerala Public awareness programme as there are large number of migrant workers from these places.
Suchetha is a double world record holder for most languages sung in one concert and the longest live singing concert by a child.

Talking about what led the Grade 10 Indian High School, Dubai student to come out with the song called 'stay safe' that has now been translated into 22 languages, her father and mentor TC Satish said: "Since the time schools closed in the wake of Covid-19, our dining table discussions were always around Covid-19 where I would tell my children that they are lucky as the risk is less among children but at the same time I would tell them that you shoulder a responsibility as they can spread it to others if you don't take precautions and preventive measures. And one day she came up with this idea to write and sing an awareness song on the virus."
Suchetha released her first song on Covid-19 in English, on March 16. The song was titled 'Say No To Panic'. Later on the multi-lingual singer released her second song in her mother tongue Malayalam to create awareness among the large Malayali community here in the UAE.
Talking about her first song in English, Suchetha said: " Now that the school is working online, and movement is restricted I was left thinking about the pandemic and what I can do for spreading awareness. Music has always been my language of effective communication. With help from my mother Sumitha Ayilliath , I did the lyrics and composed the whole song. My mom helped me with the editing of the video. I took inputs from my father Dr T.C Satish to give authentic information and thus the song was made. The recording was done in my home studio. It took us about four days for the entire process. When he saw the final product he encouraged me to upload on my Twitter and Youtube channel and before long many people had seen it and send me their blessings and support," she said.
The songs are also accompanied by a short video that not only show the young student donning different outfits representing the culture and state of the language she is singing in, but also show slides on preventive measures against the Covid-19.
The lyrics of the song urge people to "keep the distance, keep cleanliness and make it a habit to wash hands".
The song further tells people that " the rules are strict, please adhere to it. Do not panic, but be cautious, and never lessen the guard. Let us together work for peace in the world and so be at ease."
Talking about what encouraged her, Suchetha said: "It was a report on her simple, hummable Malayalam song which caught the attention of the Kerala Social Security Mission which urged me to record in the vernaculars of the migrant labourers there to spread awareness as music is a very strong medium to convey the message. I then recorded it in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil , Assamese and these along with Malayalam were released by the Kerala government as part of their Break the Chain campaign."
Following a good response on all social media platforms and with the encouragement of her family and friends, Suchetha decided to go ahead to record it in many other Indian languages including Kannada,Tulu, Konkani, Marathi, Gujrati, Rajasthani, Sindhi, Himachali, Odiya, Manipuri, Nepali, Urdu, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Kashmiri and Sanskrit. While the original lyrics for this song was written by her mother Sumitha Ayilliath, music was given by Prashanti Chopra, the orchestration for the song was done by upcoming musician Denzil Tom, her father told Khaleej Times.
The lyrics, her father said, were translated into other languages by the numerous well-wishers and friends of Suchetha. The Arabic lyrics translation was done by the noted Emirati poet Dr Shihab Ghanem with whom Suchetha has done several projects before.
Her father Satish added: "The songs are available on the social media in youtube, twitter and facebook accounts of Suchetha Satish. The number is bound to grow as many other language speakers have urged her to do it in their national language as this is a global problem. Her awareness songs in Hindi, Urdu, Nepali, Bengali and Arabic will be of great use here in UAE to spread awareness as our health depends on the level of awareness of one and all.
saman@khaleejtimes.com