Societies battle coronavirus shutdown, one song at a time

The 16 buildings in a complex in Andheri are taking several initiatives to ensure that residents are kept entertained throughout the lockdown period without compromising the safety of the occupants

Thirty-two-year-old Andheri resident Varun Bharti gave a live performance in the New Mhada Complex neighbourhood of Lokhandwala on Thursday evening, to entertain the nearby residents amid the lockdown.

Varun Bharti performs at home in Andheri on Thursday. (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

Bharti, a professional singer, had stepped into his balcony and began humming a song. When some of his neighbours heard him, they request Bharti to sing for them. A while later, Bharti decided to set up his music system to perform a gig for the residents in his neighbourhood.

“Residents began gathering below my building and clapped and cheered for me, until they were requested to go back home owing to the social distancing norm. I have never received so much appreciation before. I thought it would be good stress buster and an entertainment for everyone because they are bored at home. But I didn’t know I would get this famous,” said Bharti.

At first, Bharti had thought of singing songs from the 60s and 70s so that the older residents in the neighbourhood, who felt lonely during the lockdown, could connect to the songs. However, with a wide range of songs being requested by the residents, Bharti now has made a playlist, ranging from Punjabi to Marathi songs, as well as songs of Bollywood singer Atif Aslam. After a hit performance on Wednesday, Bharti performed on Thursday too.

“Today, I had already received 50 song requests. I don’t think I will be able to perform all in a day, but I can carry the requests forward, as I have planned to sing every day during this 21-day lockdown,” Bharti told HT on Thursday.

There are 16 buildings in the complex, housing around 1,000 flats and 2,500 residents. Owing to the large number of residents within the premises, the societies within the complex are taking several initiatives to ensure that residents are kept entertained throughout the lockdown period without compromising the safety of the occupants.

For instance, the Versova Andheri Samarth Kripa society has arranged for carrom and table tennis matches, for which a group of two to three residents can go at a time and play. “We have sanitised our entire society, and kept a sanitiser outside this room. If a family is bored, they can visit the sports room,” said Sunil Sadadekar, secretary of Versova Andheri Samarth Kripa, one of the housing societies in the complex.

Though, there is no restriction on residents moving in and out of the complex, office bearers said people had voluntarily chosen not to move out, and the entry of outsiders had decreased drastically.

The complex has, however, restricted the entry of any delivery inside the premises of the buildings, expect the milk man. Couriers and parcels have to be dropped at a table near the lobby of the building, and residents are asked to collect them from the lobby.

“We have recently sanitised our building, and intend to do so every week. The elevators are sanitised every day. Our sweepers and housekeeping staff have been provided with masks and are looking after the hygiene in the society. We have also deployed an additional security guard to keep an eye on outsiders entering the society,” said Sunil Arrorkar, chairman of Versova Sama Darshan 1D.

The society has also placed toothpicks on a sponge, so that residents do not touch the buttons.

“We had to minimise human contact as much as possible. So we decided to use toothpicks and sanitisers as a safety measure,” said Shriram Gawali, secretary of Versova Skylark 4A/B.