Punjabi pop icon Daler Mehndi says that only if we were to acknowledge ourselves and teach our kids how 'durlabh' (rare) our human body, life and the mind is -- "only then, we will be able to take care of it and only then we will make well-informed choices and thus be better people, then a better society, a nation and a world."
To spread a positive outlook towards life in the middle of the pandemic, the 'Bolo Ta Ra Ra' singer has encouraged all to pray for those who are suffering and their families. Marking the 400th Prakash Purb recently, Mehndi has started daily live streaming sessions 'Ruh Se Rab Tak' from May 1-15 in the mornings and evenings for all.
These live prayers will be an hourly session on his YouTube and Facebook page and will continue every day with morning and evening sessions where various artists will participate in praying for healing.
Mehndi urges everyone to celebrate by meditating, lighting up diyas, connecting with our soul, aligning with the Divinity, praying hard in these trying times, asking for peace for the souls that have left us.
"It is the most horrific times India, especially Delhi now is facing, it is painful and distressing. I have lost many relatives and friends. I am sure no one had ever dreamt of such horrible times. Just praying safety and good health for all. Request everyone to get vaccinated, don't hoard medicines, stop publishing and promoting hurtful images, pray for all. Mask up, follow all the Covid-19 guidelines strictly and be human," he told IANSlife, when asked about the second wave of Covid-19 hitting Indian people.
"Instead of losing hope let us shift our minds from fear to fearlessness. Together we can do it. We should empathise, pray for all, trust and surrender, be more mindful, pause and process your thoughts and feelings, check if they are in alignment with the divine, if not, start over, we should pay our gratitude to the supreme power."
He adds that people nowadays are not even aware of the value of the rare precious gift -- our human body.
"It is the responsibility of any country's heads, states and the government offices to provide safety and medical services, apart from other basic amenities to all. It is the responsibility of the country's industrialists, entrepreneurs, celebrities, sports stars, public figures, media houses to infuse only and only pleasant, inspiring, positive, uplifting messages, amplify goodness in such trying times."
As an artiste, did the 2020 lockdown and staying-at-home have an impact on him?
"Yes, but in a positive (although this word this year has added a new dimension of fear and pain) way. It gave me my 'me time'. With all the running having stopped, I had ample time to myself and with my family. I think I played board games for the first time in many many years, it gave me great bonding time with my 7-year-old daughter Rabab. Just the way I planted eight lakh trees in Delhi-NCR in 1998 after the plague outbreak in Bhopal, and continued year after year, I didn't want 2020 to dampen the spirit, so as soon as the lockdown was over, June 1, 2020, I took my family and started the plantations, that year we couldn't travel to any other city to plant trees so it was the farm and managed to plant 10,000 trees at the Daler Mehndi Festive Farms, a self-made jungle in Sohna."
"I also worked on various techniques to secure and save ground water. Even in 47 degree celsius heat, we worked with my family and team at the farm, it felt liberating. Music and cooking also took up my time, I connected with and boosted the morale of many people daily. I would get ready daily and be available to give interviews, mentally uplift people from sadness. Overall, it was a year full of reflections and gratitude," Mehndi shared.
