Sri Lankan pop sensations, Bathiya Jayakody, Santhush Weeraman, and Umaria Sinhawansa were invited to be part of a nationwide project involving artists from over 124 countries to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi by performing their rendition of his favourite bhajan, ‘Vaishnav Jan To’. As part of a special initiative, backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of and pay homage to the Indian hero, all Indian missions across these 124 countries identified a local artist/group to record the bhajan, resulting in a beautiful, eclectic, colourful rendition of the hymn, sung in the local flavour of the respective regions. The Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India published the five-minute video on their Facebook page. The Indian High Commission in Colombo selected the three artists, Bathiya, Sathush, and Umaria to be a part of the global initiative for their youth appeal and social acceptance. The trio recorded a full version of this video in the iconic background of the Independence Square and was even featured as the first to start the video. This 15th Century Gujarati hymn, which speaks of an ideal way of living in peace and kindness, was one of the favourite bhajans of Mahatma Gandhi, who routinely sang it before his meetings and included it into his roster of prayers. The project garnered attention across the world and was respected and appreciated for its creative concept by numerous politicians and well-known individuals on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. In Sri Lanka, the video was launched at a special ceremony organised by President Maithripala Sirisena on 2 October to commemorate and pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Presidential Secretariat. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally showcased the video to the Sri Lankan delegation that was in India at the time, including Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his wife Maitree Wickremasinghe. We spoke to Bathiya Jayakody about this honour. “Initially, since we have been in the field so long, we didn’t realise how big this was going to be for Sri Lanka and for us as artists. When we did understand the depth and gravity of this project, we were super excited and the three of us felt honoured to be selected to represent Sri Lanka and play even a small role in the relationship and ties between India and Sri Lanka. It is a really beautiful concept to celebrate an incredible person and we are truly thankful to be a part of it.” By Rovina Vandersay