Rocklite's new song is an ode to water and there's no time to waste

Rocklite, the band, has released a brand new song called Pani and it is the first of its kind, hoping to start a conversation about water conservation.

The band comprises of the Vital Signs' guitarist Rizwanul Haq, who earlier conjured retro-pop songs like Kon Hai Woh and Ghussay Vich. The current line-up includes songwriter, producer, composer and vocalist Bilal Ashraf, along with the late folk legend Tufail Niazi’s grandson and Babar Niazi's son, Jehangir.

Pani aims to address an issue which is either alien or not important enough for an audience which apparently has better things to worry about.



However, regardless of the amount of attention paid to the environment, pollution, or conservation altogether, Rocklite has managed to depict an animated version of the rising water problems in the country.

In conversation with the Express Tribune, Rizwan explained his motivation behind making this song, "The reason why I did Pani for was because I wanted to give out a public service message, but to make that message more effective, I opted to get the issue animated. I also wanted to do that because I did not want to publicize the band, I wanted the audience to focus soley on the issue of water and respect the blessing, Its a living thing that we need to acknowledge."

The chorus of the song relays "Every drop of water is life" as actual droplets are heard in the background with the recurrent chants of "Boondh boondh pani pani," highlighting the significance of wasted water.

The band also to keep the song as classy as possible, with contemporary western guitars and a keyboard playing in the background and a touch of classical desi singing which makes the chorus even catchier.

The lyrics imply a third person perspective, with water speaking for itself, imploring the listeners to take care of it. "I am a gift from God; I am a sign of divinity. Without me, it is impossible to have life on Earth. With a world full of thirst, how can life progress without me?"



The video of the song flows smoothly too,  just like the rivers it showcases. It projects interesting messages such as, ''Water is the driving force of all nature' , 'Ice balances global climate' , 'Water sustains life everywhere' , 'One trillion gallons of water are wasted each year' and 'Two million tons of industrial and sewage waste is discharged into water every day.' Then, viewers are given some alarming statistic to drive the message home. 'Approximately 150 million pieces of plastic is in our ocean" and "By 2025, two-thirds of the world's population may face water shortages," we are told.

"I wanted to give a universal message, which is why I incorporated various languages, because water needs to be conserved everyone around the world for people to live peacefully among each other," said Rizwan as he clarified the purpose for directing the song towards a larger audience.



The most imperative message of the entire song however, reflects how the next generations will suffer due to water shortages, as the current generation continues to take it for granted.

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