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Canadian band verses on gas tragedy to reverberate in Bhopal
A song composed by Canadian band Autorickshaw on Bhopal gas tragedy will resonate in the city sky on December 3, the same night when the city witnessed the catastrophic spread of poisonous fumes from Union Carbide plant 30 years ago.
"A wind invades your slumber at midnight/Bringing you poisoned gifts of progress/Progress turns away from the fading lights/ Hiding from a crime unconfessed..." These lines from the song composed by Canadian band Autorickshaw on Bhopal gas tragedy will resonate in the city sky on December 3, the same night when the city witnessed the catastrophic spread of poisonous fumes from Union Carbide plant 30 years ago.
The Canadian band had released a song called ‘City of Lakes’ based on the disaster nearly five years ago. All proceeds from sales of the song are donated to the Sambhanva Clinic in Bhopal, which offers free health care to the survivors, and is funded solely through donations.
Activist Rachna Dhingra from Bhopal Group for Information and Action told HT that sometime back, Ed Hanley from the band had approached her activist-husband Satinath Sarangi that their band wanted to organise a concert in Bhopal on the night of December 3, their way of paying tributes to the victims and highlighting their cause. "Five organisations working for the cause of the gas survivors have come together for organising the event and providing support to the band that will perform at Iqbal Maidan in Old City on December 3 late evening," she said.
The five organisations include Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh, the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha, the Bhopal Gas Peedit Nirashrit Pension Bhogi Sangharsh Morcha, the Bhopal Group for Information and Action and Children Against Dow Carbide.
Formed in 2003, Autorickshaw is known in the world of music and jazz landscapes, garnering 2004 and 2007 JUNO nominations for World Music Album of the Year, winning a Canadian Independent Music Award in 2005, and a John Lennon Songwriting Competition Grand Prize in World Music in 2008.
The song was originally released on November 23, 2009. Produced by Ed Hanley and Suba Sankaran, the song has been penned by Ed Hanley and Suba Sankaran. The music of the song has been composed by Suba Sankaran.
