By Sushma Nagaraju:
He gathered pace and breathed life into his tunes at the age of 12. A precocious child, his thoughts and aspirations were out of the box. At the tender age of 13, he started nurturing and fine-tuning his tunes, which focused on the issues affecting humanity – peace, environment, gender discrimination and education.
Meet Rahul Rajkhow, noted singer and lyricist, who is back again with his new song about education to strike a chord with the audience. His new tune and striking lyrics emphasising the politicisation of education in the country are generating vibes and have triggered discussions on the present education system.
His song, “Sir, You Are Incompetent” is a comment on the recent incidents threatening education in the country as a whole, according to Rajkhowa. “Factoring in the importance of education, the song derides the decisions taken by the JNU vice-chancellor on the imposition of compulsory attendance and his inaction against Prof Atul Johri, the sexual offender who made national news.”
“If Professors turn into sexual predators and are allowed to roam around university campuses freely, then the educational institutions are in grave danger. The song also raises serious questions over the slashing of scholarships, fellowships, medical allowances, MPhil and PhD seats,” he reiterates. “It is purely to break student power in India,” he adds.
The JNU graduate took a strong stance on such issues and turned a deaf ear to critics to defend JNU. His objective is to educate society about these distasteful incidents.
“People vehemently criticised me when I put out my first rap song against the JNU VC. The vicious attacks came from right-wing trolls on Twitter and Facebook. Their criticism wasn’t based on logical arguments and evidences. It was along the lines of discrimination and slurs because I belonged to JNU,” he added. “I believe every opinion should be heard and people shouldn’t be criticised only because they belong to a certain state in the country or because their political ideology and principles differ,” he shared.
Recalling his college days, he spoke about ‘Paperboat’, a band that he had started in St. Stephen’s College. “Our songs mainly discussed issues like domestic abuse, objectification of women and racial discrimination. Basically, songs that make you dance, but with a message,” he said.
Aiming high, he said, “I move ahead putting in all my effort to bring in change, and I fight for student power.” Religious, political violence, environmental degradation, overpopulation and caste-based problems can be solved through education, he added.