Don't be surprised if the next Union Budget will be presented in the House, ‘oppa FM style! Hip hop opera is no longer just limited to concerts and performances. It has become a new way of presenting serious debates and carrying out social discussions in all spheres of life. A Brit of Indian origin, Abhaey Singh wants to combine entertainment with serious subjects and the result is amazing. At least for the time being, Singh Talks It Out with Deebashree Mohanty
Imagine a scenario when you walk into a board room for a financial decision and the CFO breaks into a ‘yo! bosses! jig. He carries on with a rap style debate talking of the company’s gains or loss and in the similar sing song fashion presents the company’s position. StrangeIJ Not for Abhaey Singh, who feels that within the next decade, all important meetings, presentations, debates and even announcements will be made rap style. So, ‘a little bit of loss talk on one side and a little bit of profit to take in stride’ could be commonplace in meeting rooms.
It all started when 32-year-old British born Abhaey Singh came up with the idea to start rap debating. With the massive success of his debut video Talk It Out, Singh knew that this kind of entertaining debating has arrived. Thus was born the Indian Debating Union.
“During my varsity days, I had rapidly improved as a debater and by the time of his graduation, he was the President of the Royal Holloway, University of london Debating Society, and was beginning to do very well in competitive debates. Then it all ended! So the intrinsic motivation behind creating the Indian Debating Union was to bring alive the concept of varsity debating for a broad public audience. Simultaneously, I wished to sensitise the youth and people in general about key issues that affect them through a newer and more effective medium accessible by all. Finally, I wanted to demonstrate that debate can anchor civilised discourse in society,” he tells you. He feels that this could be an interesting way to conduct parliamentary discussions as well.
“Isn’t this a great way to make the drab proceedings of Parliament far more entertaining. We could get better results if serious presentations are discussed in rap,” Singh says.
For the moment though he is busy training students of his IDU to debate in style. Singh stresses that the misconception that debates are only meant for students and don’t have relevance otherwise should be addressed immediately. “Our target audience is not just students, but the public, which includes students. Our aim is to engage them with incisive and entertaining debate, to draw them into a given subject and to give them valuable information that can help them make informed opinions as citizens. We do this by providing two equally strong teams of debaters who are trained in the art and fine nuances of professional debating, and who can present the pros and cons of any issue convincingly,” he says.
The founders of IDU believe that knowedge is power. “We say that a good debate helps deliver this knowledge and that, in turn, empowers citizens. In addition to our debates, our youth lecture series also uses the power of information and knowledge to help students and young professionals align their efforts in a way that can serve their personal career and life goals, and also solve problems for their country,” he says. Accroding to Abhaey, it is the lyrics of the debate that are the crux of the issue.
But is it coincidence that the lyrics rhymeIJ “It is like writing a song. Why can’t you write a serious presentation as if you are penning words for a songIJ Rhyming does not take away from the seriousness of the subject. It just makes it more attractive for people. If you desire to be heard in a debate, these are the little things that count,” he says. The IDU has a respectable alumus and over 1,000 students are waiting to enroll for the next session of this rap debate school.
“I am humbled with the response we have got so far. There was this American gentleman who cited India as an example of how debates should be executed, after watching Talk It Out. Somebody from the Toastmasters Club in Canada said he had never seen something so impressive in 14 years and a student from the legendary Oxford Union said people like us inspire them to debate. These and many more such comments from people from all backgrounds and cultures encourage us to keep doing our thing,” Singh tells you.
Although still at a nascent stage in India, Singh feels that his style of debating is starting to make an impact on society. “The IDU’s first debate at Mumbai’s Nehru Centre and St Andrews Auditorium have been full houses, that too on weekend evenings when many people are usually out partying. “So, I have a strong feeling that it is going to be adapted in various ways in India,” Singh tells you, adding that, for him, music and entertainment as a whole can have an impact on the way people think and feel about things. Thus, it can be a medium for change.
“Many great songs and films have been cultural reference points for generations. Think of Raj Kapoor’s Awara or more recently Aamir Khans Tare Zameen Par, or a song like Bob Marley’s Get Up, Stand Up, for instance. Entertainment is a powerful carrier of ideas and influences,” he points out.
Hailing from the house of faujis as he puts it, Singh believes that community service runs in his veins.
“I have been brought up to believe that service and giving back to the community and country is a God-given duty. My mother served in honorary capacities first in India as a young lady, then in Britain for many years. My father is a practising Sikh and I have always seen him throw himself into seva wherever he can. My grandmother was a senior politician in India and lives for her country. My nani has volunteered her time to good causes for decades. They both served in an era when there was much less corruption and it breaks their hearts to see what our reality is today. Many more members of our extended family have served in the Indian Armed Forces, Police and Government. So service is in our blood,” he concludes.
Talk it Out has had 1.5 million hits on YouTube in one week already. The retention rate on this seven- minute video has also been high, an average about 90 per cent plus in the US, and 106 per cent in Pakistan, South Africa 107 per cent, and Congo over 300 per cent. More than 1,000 Facebook shares in the last 24 hours and 4000-plus Facebook shares in total.
lyrical rhapsody
PROlOGUE
Madam Speaker
My honourable opposition
Members of the house
let me make it clear
At the very outset of this debate
That our position is not based on ideology
But instead on that which constitutes the foundation
Of any civil society
STANZA 1
There's an elementary thought
A very simple aim
It hits us very hard when viewed, with blunt disdain
It’s a sentiment we’ve drawn from a very ancient age
Takes us forward through the past, with our roots it does engage
It’s our mission, an ambition, a simple aspiration
To propagate the virtue of civil debate
Where respect to aggression does, invalidate
Now there are some people who just don’t care about that
But we live it, we breathe it, and we never underrate it
Because we believe
That when there are problems
You know, conflicts to solve
We must, the past absolve
And to dialogue resolve