Usha Uthup

Chittoor Gopi

Studio Vibrations

large_Kerala_floods_Feature.jpg

medium_Kerala_floods_Feature.jpg

small_Kerala_floods_Feature.jpg

thumbnail_Kerala_floods_Feature.jpg

Kerala_floods_Feature.jpg

This song, titled
Pralaya Thaalam
or Rhythm
of the calamity, was recorded by veteran
singer Usha Uthup as a dedication to the victims of the floods that devastated
Kerala last month, and the massive destruction. The southern state received unprecedented
rainfall in July-August this year, resulting in floods that killed hundreds and
displaced hundreds of thousands. 

The original song, released in 2012, is
titled Ente Keralam or My
Kerala. Uthup sang in
happier times, with memorable lyrics like ‘ente Keralam, ethra sundaram’
– ‘how beautiful my Kerala
is’.
After the recent flood, a distraught Uthup “requested the songwriter, Chittoor
Gopi, to rework its lyrics for the state’s people,” her daughter Anjali Kurien
told PARI. In this version, the reworked lyrics are ‘ente Keralam, ethra sangadam’  – ‘how sad my Kerala is’.

<a></a>The song is
accompanied by footage of submerged homes, landslides, fallen trees and
ferocious water bodies, which speak of the extent of damage in the state. The
video, made by editors at Studio Vibrations, Kolkata, was uploaded on Onam day,
August 24, on Uthup’s YouTube channel.

It will take years and huge resources
for Kerala to recover from this calamity. You can help to rebuild the state by
contributing to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund<a href="https://donation.cmdrf.kerala.gov.in/"> </a><a href="https://donation.cmdrf.kerala.gov.in/">here</a>.

Text and translation of the subtitles by Vishaka George.

Song for Kerala: rhythm of the calamity

പ്രളയ താളം: കേരളത്തിന് വേണ്ടിയൊരു ഗാനം

Alappuzha

At present, we can only accept donations in Indian rupees by Indian citizens. All donations made to the CounterMedia Trust are eligible for exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Here is a copy of our exemption certificate.


India is bigger than New Delhi. And people need to know more about the rest of this vast nation.


Younger, media-saturated generations are growing up knowing little about their country, but a lot about the elites of a few metros and towns. For a narrowly-owned, commercially-driven media, the dumbing down of a nation is part of standard operating procedure. The last available data of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS, Delhi) show us that reports from New Delhi account for 66 per cent of news on the front pages of major dailies. The CMS data also found that just about 0.24 per cent of front page news came out of rural India. The TV channels are not much better.PARI exists to change that.We are a non-profit organisation. We publish under creative commons, and do not charge readers a subscription fee or put-up advertisements. Nothing is behind a paywall and we are completely free-to-access by anyone. We guard our independence and receive no direct grants from governments and corporations, nor any funding that could dictate our content. So, we are dependent on volunteer labour, donations from individuals, foundations and institutions that see value in independent and free media.PARI is changing the way Indian journalism reports and documents the rural.India is more than the elite of a few metros and towns. We report on rural lives and livelihoods, languages, communities, migrants and more. We need your help to pull off this most ambitious of Indian journalistic endeavours. The scale of this effort costs money. Donate generously - and spread the word about PARI.&nbsp;

Donate FAQs


Let’s get you acquainted

Welcome to PARI

All our content is, and will forever be free to consume. If you enjoy our work, you can support us by becoming a volunteer or by donating to help fund our work.

Want to republish this article? Please write to <a href="mailto:zahra@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">zahra@ruralindiaonline.org</a> with a cc to <a href="mailto:namita@ruralindiaonline.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">namita@ruralindiaonline.org</a>

Song for Kerala: rhythm of the calamity

A popular song in Malayalam, once sung by Usha Uthup to celebrate the riches of Kerala, has now been reworked to honour the lives lost and to mark the destruction caused by the massive floods in August, 2018

Related stories

A rain-scented walk in Sivagangai

Living on ravaged land

Biswas and the bamboos on his bike

Recycling energy, Godda style

Bhadels of Goa

Pookadai: still throbbing with morning life

Koli Kadlas

Malnourishment high among children of migrants: study

Wheels of the rural Indian West

Living Under a Red Cloud in Bellary

Vedla – earrings of the Maher community

Dreaming of water, drowning in debt

Kali: the dancer and his dreams

Farmer's diet worse than a convict's

In Yavatmal, life goes on

Suicides are about the living, not the dead

Death of a carpenter

Hoisa Shigmo!

Women farmers: weaving a life in Anantapur

Defiant in Dhinkia

Spice and all that's nice

Kerala's Green Army

The ‘jugaad’ not-a-mobile

Health as someone else's wealth

Calibrating in a Kudumbashree assembly unit