Wake-up Call

We were wooed,cajoled,threatened to vote this elections. But as is the way with urban apathy,the temptation of a four-day weekend was too much for many of us to resist and we fled the city without casting our ballots. Most would give up before such indifference,but not Channel [V and Big Adda,which will present the Be The Change concert today at the Andheri Sports Complex,in an attempt to inspire youngsters to walk the talk. The concert will see performances by artists Kailash Kher,Bappi Lahiri,Raghu Dixit and Anushka Manchanda and the three finalists of [V Launchpad — Faridkot,Cassini’s Division and Reverse Polarity – battle it out.

Shivanandan Pare,COO of Big Adda,says,“The idea behind the concert is to communicate to people that we need to be aware of what is happening around us. It’s more than just going out and voting – one has to be aware of the issues that affect us. It can be something as simple as refusing to use plastic bags.” Saurabh Kanwar,VP – content and communication,Channel [V,adds,“We worked on the Vote Ya Vaat campaign,but as we saw,it didn’t have the desired effect. It proves that there is work still to be done,and this concert is part of the effort to bring about change.” Kanwar insists that a concert is the best way to reach out to the youth. “We’ve had success with our previous campaigns on eve teasing and AIDS,so we know that talking to the youth in this medium is effective.”