For years, 35-year-old Choudhari has been trying to hammer the basics of cleanliness into the minds and habits of those inhabiting the scorched plains of Jawhar taluka through music.
In 2011, Bhaskar Choudhari joined Impact India Foundation and is now a member of their Community Health Initiative. Pic/ Amruta Khandekar
On the dust-laden porch of a small brick house, tucked away in the arid interiors of Palghar district, a group of teenage girls and young mothers huddle on neatly arranged floor mats. As Bhaskar Choudhari's melodious voice banishes the silence, they listen intently and repeat the lines after him. "You go to fetch water from the river and wash your clothes and utensils at the river bed. When, oh, when will you understand that this pollutes the river water?" they sing in unison.
For years, 35-year-old Choudhari has been trying to hammer the basics of cleanliness into the minds and habits of those inhabiting the scorched plains of Jawhar taluka through music. His songs, a confluence of skillfully worded lyrics and mellifluous notes, never fail to captivate his audience, regardless of their age. He performs at schools, childcare centres and public gatherings across the taluka and occasionally even beyond, educating villagers about maintaining personal hygiene, consuming nutritious food and keeping their surroundings spotless.
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One of Bhaskar's most popular compositions is a song where he demonstrates a step-by-step method of washing hands by drawing comparisons with similar gestures such as rubbing a coin between one's palms and strapping on a wristwatch. He sings: Haatat khelto paisa, panyat pohto maasa. The audience then apes his actions while singing along. The cheery beats of this song, however, are in contrast to the woeful intonations of another song that deals with a graver topic—farmers' deaths. "I want people to start taking better care of themselves. The farmers in this belt fail to do so and succumb to cold, hunger and disease," he says.
Eight years ago, the singer and father-of-two had no knowledge about the lessons he preaches today. Having grown up in Kogada village in Jawhar, he held a series of odd jobs, including a stint as a construction worker and landless labourer. Then in 2011, by a stroke of luck, he joined Impact India Foundation, a nonprofit organisation established in 1983 by the government of India following a United Nations General Assembly Resolution, to eradicate disability in the country through both, preventive and curative measures.
Bhaskar is a team member of the Community Health Initiative, a multi-pronged project undertaken by the IIF to lower cases of disability among infants and adolescents. His job profile involves frequenting anganwadis or daycare centres and nudging both, children and adults who assemble there, towards a healthier way of living. It was during one of these heart-to-heart conversations with the villagers that Bhaskar realised that he could make fruitful use of his innate love for performing. "Bhaskar's songs are effective because they can influence people in a way that mere words cannot," says Devidas Palve, a community health officer.
Bhaskar's creativity and confidence have bolstered the project's efforts to do away with pollution, a primary cause of disability, one of which is malnourished children being born to young mothers.
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