Like many of us, singer Papon, too, has been spending a lot of time with his family during this lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He says that this is the first time in a very long time that he got to spend so much time with his wife and kids. “This lockdown was spent by doing household chores mostly. Me and my wife had to get used to managing everything on our own and we also have two kids so we had to manage them as well. We tried to maintain as much discipline as we could so that none of us felt lost. And I think we have fared well. We actually enjoyed ourselves a lot with everything slowing down. And it was after several years that I got to spend so much time with everyone,” says Papon.
The singer also released a couple of singles during the lockdown and his latest single Haaye Rabba, he says is a very simple sweet and honest melody. “The reason I got attracted to this song was because of its simplicity and a very simple chorus. I don’t remember singing something like this in a while. It tells a sweet love story and it has it’s soul in the right place,” he says.
You can listen to Haaye Rabba here:
The singer who has sung songs such as Jiyein Kyun (Dum Maaro Dum; 2011) and Kaun Mera (Special 26) is also very popular in the live music circuit. But Papon is very worried about artistes now that there will be very few live performances because of the pandemic. “The lockdown has affected the economy very badly, and I can’t say for sure in what way and for how long it will affect the music industry, but it is definitely already affecting everyone very badly. Everyone is on the edge including us. We have not had any earnings for months. We actually earn from shows and gigs but those are not going to happen until the end of this year I think. So, it is going to be a big setback. I don’t know if we can expect the government to support artistes and our industry, but some relief should ideally be given because we, as a community, are also doing a lot of charity and fundraisers,” says Papon adding that without music and art, our society will lose its essence.
“Music is something that people look to during difficult times. If there is no music, people will not be very happy. And that is going to lead to a downfall of our culture also. So music and art and culture should definitely be looked after,” says the singer.
