If you have been living in Bengaluru for some time now, you would have learnt to live with the potholes in the city and accepted their presence on all roads. While many spot such glaring holes, and go on the BBMP app to complain about it, there are others that are rapping their angst. This young Bengaluru-based group of individuals called Pothole Patrike rapped about the potholes, documented them, and created a video that went viral!
The team of various artistes that put together this video and rap song share what inspired them to make this humorous yet meaningful video, with a twist of rap in it. Madhumita Natarajan, a video producer who started the Pothole Patrike tells us why she initially started the group, “My friend Bhargav, who happens to be the cameraperson and editor of the video and I have been victims of potholes ourselves. We lost our belongings in a rain-inundated Bengaluru road last month. Change starts with us, hence Pothole Partrike was brought to life. I am a video producer by profession and I thought why not make a fun video about the Pothole situation in our city?” Madhumita says.
The rapper aka songwriter of the group, Karthik Gubbi who is more frequently known as Gubbi explains, “The whole idea of the song was to put across the message in a humorous way. We wanted a Kannadish-rap, so I tried rhyming the words, and came up with a catchy phrase, ‘Spot the Pot’ which became the tagline for our campaign and turned into a hashtag all over social media as well,” he adds. Most lyrics in the song were inspired by actual incidences that Karthik had experienced himself. Like the line where it says, “The brave one who jumped over the gutter told me, ‘bro slowly’ can you? It was something that Gubbi was told in reality.
Another, singer who joined the group was Madhura Gowda who says, “It’s horrible to see so many people losing their loved ones because of these potholes. It is a serious issue each one of us is facing in Bengaluru and it is frustrating. So, we did our bit and made this video to catch people’s attention.” Arun Kumar, who does the moonwalk in the video, is Madhumita’s cousin and instantly agreed when asked if he wanted to be featured in the video. Arun says, “I was surprised about the video going viral, just a day after we posted it. The responses from the media were overwhelming. We look forward to doing more videos that bring about an awareness of a social issue in a fun way.”
Karthik ends the conversation by saying, “We are glad that this video reached out to many, and the cause was out in the open. We just want people in the city to be safe and sound. And hope that something permanent can be done about this whole ‘pothole situation’ in Bengaluru.” Since, the video went viral many people on social media have appreciated it. A FB post by a Bengaluru citizen, Raghu Rajappa says, “I love this. It’s a combination of culturally unique, fun and need of the hour. Positive sensation will go a long way in changing the country for the better. Let’s share positive change.” We can’t agree more.
