Mysuru: A Mysuru student Kiran Bagade has directed a Kannada rap song titled Namma Kukkarahalli Kere (Our Kukkarahalli Lake) to create awareness among Mysureans about the ecological importance of Kukkarahalli Lake.

The video song, which is about three-and-a-half minute, concentrates about the biodiversity of the Lake, its rich history, the birds present there and how regular walkers love this place.

Kiran, who is currently studying Master’s in Development Management at V- Lead, Mysuru, has himself written the lyrics for this song.

S. Soujanya, an engineering student of Vidyavardhaka College and Manoj, a Diploma student from SJCE, have rendered their voices for this song.

The music for the song is composed by Sanjay Shankar. The composing, mixing and editing of the song was done at Sanjay Shankar’s Sangeetha Mane Studio in Agrahara.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Kiran said, “I came up with this idea of writing a song on Kukkarahalli Lake when I was a part of the Kukkarahalli Kere Ulisi Samithi, which opposed development works such as introducing boating facility, de-silting the Lake etc. which could have been a major threat to the Lake’s ecosystem. I wanted to reach out to the youth and realised in order to connect them to this Lake, I will have to come up with a song. The Lake should be free from human intervention and the natural habitat serves the best for the birds and pelicans especially which are many in number at this Lake. As Mysureans connect easily to the Royal King, the song also throws light on how this Lake since the time of Maharajas has been an ecological treasure to Mysore State. Me and my team had done this song about a few months back, but we uploaded the video on YouTube recently. It took us about 8 months to shoot footages, compose the music and edit it. We wanted to give out a message that the conservation of the Lake is important. I have penned down the lyrics and sung the rap portion in the song; Soujanya has sung the folk part while Manoj has rendered the rock fusion part.”

The Lake, which was built by Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, which served as a lifeline for the city for drinking water and agriculture then, was used as a water source for sandalwood oil factory but gradually lost its primary purpose. Kukkarahalli Lake even today is a natural habitat for wildlife and provides fresh air to the daily runners, walkers and yoga practitioners. It hosts a huge number of birds, bats, butterflies and is also home to Jackals which breed there.

Kiran and his team, with this unique composition of fusion of rock, folk and rap intend to target the youth and connect them to the Lake so that they develop a sense of belonging and attachment towards it and own up to preserve the natural habitat.

Kiran is also a certified Ornithologist from Bombay Natural History Society. A nature-lover, he intends to do more such songs in the near future relating to the forests, nature and wildlife in Karnataka.