Sachh Bharat is anything but swachh

“Chai peene ku mai eishich nikla, chaurasthe pe khatmal pakda, chabi leke lisaince pucha, helmet papera kuch bhi nahi thei.... Hyderabad Ko Baigan Milaya”

 

That’s how musician Sriram Mudambi’s video, Chai Pani Song — Hyderabad Ko Baigan Milaya, on his YouTube channel Sachh Bharat, begins. Currently trending online, the song shows what every Hyderabadi has either heard, witnessed or at least experienced once in their life.

 

A dental surgeon who is also a businessman and a musician, Sriram kept hearing about Swachh Bharat, but what he saw around him wasn’t anything near clean. “People would still dirty the city, pay bribes, drive in wrong lanes, dig borewells etc. So I thought why not make a music video that is funny and at the same time highlights an important issue,” explains Sriram who made sure that the Hyderabadi lingo was used. 

The four-minute video that was published on September 18 garnered 9,000 odd views within the first few hours. “The video has scenes like a motorist driving in the wrong direction and getting caught by a policeman, but eventually getting away by paying a bribe; a group of friends getting drunk and driving; someone putting the right indicator on but driving towards the left side of the road...,” says Sriram whose idea was to “clean mindsets first and through that our surroundings. The song production itself took four months, but the shoot just took one week,” adds Sriram. 

The actors in the video were either family or friends of the musician, including his pet dog Fluffy. And with the video going viral, Sriram does not plan to stop here. “I was discussing with my kids over a meal, asking them what could be the next topic that we could work on... and my son suggested ‘litter and literacy’. Isn’t that an interesting idea?” asks Sriram, who composed and wrote the Chai Paani song.