JAY JOSHI
At a time when Goa is having a rough journey owing to potholed roads, a picture that recently went around Whatsapp created quite a storm around the state. It showed two tourists examining the potholes on Goan roads. Even the tourists are now intrigued by potholes on the tourist state’s roads, people thought, but the story behind the picture was different.
Former Dance India Dance Supermom contestant and Zumba instructor Cecille Rodrigues released a song titled Rosto on Tuesday, talking about the sorry state of Goan roads, and the picture and it instantly became viral. Within five hours of its release, the song received over one thousand views on Youtube. The picture was taken when the singer and her team were shooting near Panaji bus stand. As the picture went around on Whatsapp, it was rumoured that the girls were two tourists who are apparently intrigued at the state of Goan roads. However, after the song was released, the reat story came to light.
The much viral song is a parody of Goan Cantar legend Lorna’s hit song Bebdo, and the idea for this song came to Cecille while she was, of course, on the road. “I had gone for a karaoke night where I sang the song Bebdo for karaoke. When I was driving back, I thought why not make the words ‘bebdo’ into ‘rosto’. So, I came back home, and began writing, which continued till 3 am,” informs Cecille. “After that, I acquired a karaoke version of the original song, and then sent it to a friend who took care of the editing,” she says, adding that the song came together smoothly on its own. “After this, I reached out to Amrit ((Vatsa) whose videos have a nice funny flair to them, and asked him to come up for a video for this song. However, as he is not from Goa, I had to translate the song for him to understand. Later, we decided to add the translation as subtitles so that not just Goans but those outside the state too can understand and enjoy the song,” the singer states.
There is a special reason why she specifically chose to base the song on famous tune by Cantar legend Lorna. “ I wanted to connect Goa with Lorna. The song Bebdo is like our own song-the song of Goa. When you think about Lorna, you think about Goa. Also, this is my most favourite song, and I always sing it at Karaokes, and have even jived on it!” she explains. She also adds that being a singer and a dancer, she felt that it was best to express her opinion on this pressing issue of potholes through a song.
While the song is of course well-received, the picture of ‘tourists’ shooting potholes on Goan roads is also generating quite a discussion. Elaborating on the picture, Cecille states,“ I am aware of this picture. We were shooting for the video on bus stand, and people were peering out from the buses, thinking that tourists are actually shooting Goa’s potholes. Someone even took our picture and video, which I guess is now going viral,” she says.
The song does voice many of the concerns an ordinary Goan has about the conditions of the state’s roads, and the way it is going viral should demonstrate how deeply it has touched a chord with Goan people.
