Tamil Nadu elections: Doctors rap to inspire young voters to show up at booths

When ophthalmic surgeon Murugananth Sabapathy from Chennai had his usual catching-up calls with his friend orthopaedic surgeon Ananth Krishnan in Muscat, their conversation veered towards the upcoming Tamil Nadu elections, and the sections of society that are indifferent to casting their votes.

So, the medical professionals collectively decided that they would nudge people to step out and vote, and the idea of a song occurred to them rather organically, given that they are part-time vocalists and poets. Once the song was written, laparoscopic bariatric surgeon Anirudh Rajkumar in Chennai was roped in. “We have been seeing a section – people in the Gen Z group to those in their 50s – that seems apathetic to exercise their franchise and we think a powerful song could cut through,” Dr. Sabapathy said.

Their track ‘Votu Podu’ riffs on Tamil rock and rap which turns colloquial Tamil poetry written by Dr. Krishnan into a rap, with the lead portion sung by Dr. Sabapathy and the rap portion by Dr. Rajkumar. It was entirely recorded, mixed and mastered at Wavefoundry studios by Vasanth David. “Monetising the song is not the goal and the song is not affiliated to any political party. We just wanted to convey the message to the listeners to read up the manifestos, see the contesting candidates’ qualifications, and their plans for healthcare, development and so on, and cast an informed vote,” added him.

Dr. Sabapathy says the song is likely to attract Gen Z voters with lyrics that are straightforward and easy enough to relate to, although the recording came together only in snatches of “me-time”, late into the night after long hospital shifts. “Along the way, we discovered our band Parai Urumi collective where we hope to continue using music like this to educate audiences in the future,” he said.

The project was entirely self funded with most of their resources going into audio production, he adds. “This is why we had to rely on a few visuals generated using Artificial Intelligence. The song is now released on platforms such as YouTube and other social media on Thursday. As doctors, we are still figuring out how this space works,” he said, “but the hope is that people show up and cast their votes.”