- 2 days ago
On this 5Live Special Report, host Sorul Medhotra Kapoor examines how India's youth are using social media to protest Delhi's severe air pollution crisis. The programme features content creators Saloni Gaur, Nischay Verma, Nirbhay Garg, and Vasu Sharma, who are turning public frustration into viral memes, reels, and satirical songs to highlight government inaction as AQI levels continue to worsen annually. Comedian Saloni Gaur states, 'The problem is that the government can't see the pollution because of pollution.' The report explores whether this new wave of digital activism, which blends humour with rage, can force authorities to address the life-altering environmental crisis that has become a personal battle for Gen Z and millennials.
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00:00Masker laga ke wo khansati thi jam ke myri
00:05Chmog hote hi shimla bhaagati ek dam se myri
00:13Air purifier tha uske paas
00:20Ghir se jo nikli nahi aya sas
00:24Myri khansati rahati
00:26Myri inhaler lady
00:29Myri asthma bronchitis paayegi
00:33Dawai pe kharchavo karti
00:36Tutar pe charcha bhi karti
00:39Myri khansati khansati jayeri
00:43Vote karoon kisko karoon
00:49Eh myri
00:51Did you feel like laughing at it or crying at it?
00:57Well that's the kind of emotion all of us are feeling as well
01:00Hello and welcome, you're watching 5 Live, I'm Sorul Medodhra Kapoor
01:03There's only one issue really worth discussing as we go into the winter season or pollution season
01:10And we here on 5 Live have taken it upon us to ensure that we pick it up every day
01:15So what are we discussing today?
01:17Let's go back and sort of jog your memory a little bit
01:20Let's go back to November of 2022
01:22That time, the AQI in the National Capital was around 650
01:27November of 2023 again, it was touching 700
01:3224, it went up from 700 to 750
01:36Even crossing 790 in parts of Delhi
01:39And this year, November of 2025, numbers are crossing beyond 850
01:45But then there are questions on the validity of these numbers altogether
01:49Four years, same month, same poison, same story
01:54And let's be honest, despite all the committees, commissions, crackdowns, strict warnings, successive government
02:00Simply haven't been able to fix this problem
02:03Different parties, different manifestos, but the same smog
02:08Because the solution we get is always temporary
02:12Stop gap, it's almost crisis mode
02:15Shut schools, ban trucks, spray water or dust
02:19On dust like we are trying to give sort of CPR to a dead system
02:23If that also doesn't work, give water to the meter itself
02:26And every winter, when we are gasping, the political class looks surprised
02:31Like it wasn't on the calendar, like they didn't know it was going to happen in the first place
02:35While policy stays stuck in their annual replay
02:39The anger on the ground is evolving
02:42Activists, those pictures on your screen, of course, are still protesting
02:46Filing petitions, organising marches, shouting hordes of right to breathe
02:51But what about young Indians?
02:54What are they doing?
02:56Do they even care?
02:57Well, this time we notice a different trend emerging
03:00They are talking in a very different language
03:04On a very different beat, in fact
03:06They are protesting in the way that generation knows best
03:11By grabbing eyeballs, by hijacking your screen
03:15And by making you stop mid-scroll to really take note
03:20Sample this
03:22Delhi's youth is forcing the government to notice the problem
03:25And take necessary action
03:27And they are doing it
03:28The way they know best
03:31This is the first one
03:32This is the first one
04:02That was Saloni Gaurd.
04:31And listen to the next one, we picked up another one for you.
04:35You step out for fresh air, but when you don't find it, you decide to put chorus for clean air.
05:01That was Saloni Gaurd.
05:06Doesn't it speak to your soul?
05:18Doesn't it speak to your soul?
05:32Well, we've got another one because this one really stings.
05:36Gen Z is addressing its pollution concerns through memes.
05:39But if you look at them a level deeper, they aren't just really funny.
05:43They're actually very, very sad.
05:46That is Saloni Gaurd.
05:56I don't have a cigarette, I have no drink, and I have a lung defect.
06:04I have a chock in adventure sports, and I have a death.
06:09I have a deep breath, how do I get my breath?
06:12I have a stress that I have grown.
06:14I have a lot of stops where AQI is, I see a lot of fresh air.
06:19I have no exes for my ex, and my chest is heavy.
06:24funny yes sharp well absolutely but let's not fool ourselves pollution is not a laughing stock
06:33it's a life-altering crisis for gen z for millennials this isn't politics this is personal
06:39it's their lungs it's their childhood outdoors their morning run their commute their future
06:45their game their communication their socials all put together and then a generation that has grown
06:51up online starts turning creatively into a protest when memes become messaging when reels become
06:59resistance it tells you something doesn't it it tells you they are done waiting for governments
07:04to fix it it tells you they're taking control of the narrative and it tells us very clearly that
07:10the cost of inaction is no longer invisible so today on the program we meet these young indians
07:17the one who are remixing rage into art remixing humor into activism and pollution into a protest
07:27movement you cannot ignore so let's begin let me introduce our guests first up joining me on the
07:34program today is a saloni gore comedian and content creator hi there hi there saloni thanks so much
07:40for being here also with us in the studio is nish chair varma content creator you just saw his piece
07:45on there on our screens as well and also with us today is nirbhai garg here already with his guitar
07:52and vasu sharma who is in mumbai as we speak and like because this is a problem which is not just
08:00about delhi so it's really lovely that we've got this band of boys which are both in delhi and mumbai
08:06and we'll go across to them as well but let me first go to saloni saloni every time one looks
08:14at a meme or a satire or a piece which stings politically or which perhaps stings you in a way
08:22where you don't know whether you should laugh or cry i wonder if what is the reaction that you want your
08:30audience to take away from it because many will say you to mazak bana di a pollution ka no the one
08:36thing that most of the people in my comment section were saying pehle kiyo nahi bola but but
08:43mei bata duke mera to uh career ki shurua thi pollution ki video se vi thi the only video which
08:49went viral for the first time was about pollution or wo mehne pehle bhi kiya tha it's not about
08:54ki ap kab bol rahe ho the important thing is ki ap ab to bolo ab har koi air purifier kareedne jara hai
09:03har koi kisi na kisi type ki khansi ya zukhaam se bimaar hai but aap abhi bhi is cheez pe lagge
09:08ho hai ki aapne tab ni bola tha, aapne ab nahi bola hai and honestly bhe ne to go video
09:13bar bar bethke banai ti but hats off to these guys yeh log toh they have put their lives in danger
09:18yeh log toh they have put their lives in danger yeh log toh sadak peh teh, wo apne terrace peh teh
09:20haa so i mean what i want the reaction that i want is you know people should stop and think and
09:27not even just people i want the government to stop and think
09:31maklab they're not even addressing the issue they're not even claiming ki haa isa kuch hua hai
09:36the problem is that and since you've been doing this for several years now it's a career out of
09:43pollution if that's what i'm getting right here which is we're laughing about it yes but very very
09:48worrying to sort of even think about have you noticed any change over the years no i i think
09:55the only change is that it has worsened i mean achcha toh kuch nahi hua hai kharaab hi zyada hua hai like
10:02isse behle kisi bhi pollution peh mujhe uh drastically apne andr koii change feel nahi ho ta because
10:09like i am lucky that my job is you know i don't get to travel that much i can do it by sitting at home
10:16i'm lucky that way but this time i was somewhere out and i came back to delhi when all of this
10:23pollution was happening and i suddenly realized ki hum toh gas chamber mein rahe hai hmm i don't
10:30know i i i mean the the problem is ki government ko pollution ki wajay sehi pollution ki problem
10:35dikhai nahi dehri hai it's just so hazy that they can't see it pollution ki wajay se pollution ki problem
10:41nahi dikhai dehri hai but uh nishcheh you so been making content on pollution for several years now right
10:48yeah yeah and every year you do like a different song that comes out uh and every year you go with
10:55this stoic face and you go to different places mein mein seriously jana chahti ho ki hum itne
11:02young log pollution ke aare mein baat bhot karte hai but kya kuch karte bhi hai uske liye like i genuinely
11:09want to know when the protest happened i was there at india gate and i saw a lot of young people i saw
11:13some older people with their kids et cetera as well but how many of them were wearing a mask so i
11:19wonder sometimes if people care about pollution just enough to talk about it or enough to do something
11:27about it i guess we don't have any uh solution to this now i mean we have no choice now we have no choice
11:33now we have no choice now we have no choice now we have no choice now we have no choice now we have no choice now
11:38so we have no choice now instead of doing something by doing something to do something
11:40because um for an artist i can speak into the music
11:59You can see, Saluni said that you are not looking at it.
12:02And as I have written a line in my song,
12:04how do I take a deep breath in stress?
12:06Because I take a deep breath,
12:08and if I take a deep breath,
12:09then I will get more stress.
12:11So, I guess, we have no choice.
12:13Please read the lines that you have written.
12:16In that case,
12:19I don't drink cigarettes,
12:21but my lungs are also defective.
12:23And I don't want to be in adventure sports,
12:25I don't want to be in shock,
12:26but I'm also playing Modnal.
12:28So, I'm looking at AQI,
12:30and there will be an IPO of Fresh Air.
12:34Fresh Air's IPO?
12:36When will Fresh Air's election?
12:38I think that's what I'm waiting for.
12:40And on that note,
12:41let me bring in Nirbhay and Vasu as well.
12:45Now, Nirbhay and Vasu are both,
12:48you know, have been making songs.
12:50They have one that has already come out.
12:52One that is now going viral from a previous year as well.
12:55So, in this very convoluted world of social media,
12:57everything is coming to fore,
12:58and hashtag pollution is coming out,
13:00which tells me that people care.
13:02People are watching.
13:03On my family WhatsApp group,
13:05also everybody is saying,
13:06what's happening in Delhi?
13:07But how many of them are wearing a mask?
13:10How many of them are doing the right things?
13:12that I always wonder?
13:14When you guys put out this video for the first time,
13:17was the reaction funny?
13:20Was the reaction what to do?
13:23Like helpless?
13:25Or was the reaction angry?
13:27Our motivation to make this song was that we were fed up.
13:32Vasu was coming from Himachal,
13:34I was coming back from Uttarakhand,
13:36around the same dates.
13:37And the moment we entered the NCR zone,
13:40let's say Chandigarh,
13:41there was a curtain of smoke that we went through,
13:44our buses went through.
13:46And that was for both of us.
13:48So we were really angry,
13:50that okay,
13:51now that I have stepped into this music thing,
13:53and Vasu was already an established musician,
13:56so he decided that we have to do something,
13:58and then we sat and within two days,
14:00we made this music and this song.
14:02Yeah.
14:03That was the Mairi song.
14:05No, that was the
14:06other version,
14:08the other version,
14:09because I come from a Sufi background.
14:12Okay.
14:13So I've been doing Sufi music.
14:14That was the Kawali version.
14:15That was the Kawali version, in 23.
14:16Then we made another,
14:17in Mairi,
14:18in 2024.
14:19Yeah.
14:20So for 25,
14:21you will have made it.
14:22We are making songs,
14:23we are talking about content creators,
14:26we are talking about careers,
14:28we are talking about pollution every year,
14:31but where is the solution?
14:34Are you guys as frustrated as I am,
14:36or am I just,
14:37is my algo rigged as they say,
14:39and I'm only seeing it?
14:40No,
14:41we thought that we won't have to make another video in 2025.
14:44We hoped that our video would lose its significance in 2025,
14:48because that thing will happen after 2023.
14:50We garnered more than a crore views.
14:52Yeah.
14:53That's a lot.
14:54But it's not okay.
14:55So there's,
14:56somewhere there's a fault in our stars, I guess.
14:58So these over millions of people who share likes,
15:03or share your video,
15:05or sort of send hearts,
15:07or send comments,
15:08I wonder how many of them actually vote on pollution.
15:11I wonder how many of them make it a point to talk about it,
15:15and to raise it all year round.
15:16And let me bring in your partner Vasu from Mumbai as well on this.
15:20Vasu,
15:21do you think people,
15:23all of those millions of people who love looking at your reels,
15:26share it, forward it,
15:28do you think it matters enough to them
15:30that they would actually vote on it one day?
15:32Vasu can you hear me?
15:45Foggy signal.
15:46I will blame it on that.
15:47And I will take that question.
15:49And I will take that question to Saloni then.
15:52Saloni,
15:53what has really intrigued me about pollution,
15:55is the fact that,
15:57when India really unites,
15:59we are able to bring about change.
16:01For example,
16:02on the issue of dogs.
16:03Yeah.
16:04We were,
16:05we managed to roll back an order from Supreme Court,
16:08for them to rethink,
16:09come to a compromise.
16:11Why is this not happening in pollution?
16:15I think,
16:16people are not that serious.
16:18For example,
16:19my own family,
16:20the extended family.
16:22In their house,
16:23the daughter was fighting for an air purifier,
16:25and the mother was saying,
16:27why don't you do your lungs strong?
16:29I don't know.
16:30I don't know.
16:31I don't know.
16:32I don't know.
16:33They have started thinking,
16:34that you have to get immune to this,
16:36not the other way around.
16:38Immune?
16:39There is no immunity on pollution.
16:42What is, like,
16:43okay, anyways.
16:44I don't know.
16:45So,
16:46she was arguing with her,
16:47that,
16:48that,
16:49that,
16:50that,
16:52I don't know.
16:53And,
16:54I have seen those pictures,
16:55where people are running,
16:56around India gate.
16:57And,
16:58honestly,
16:59saying,
17:00like,
17:01I was sitting at home,
17:02for such a long time,
17:03because,
17:04when going out,
17:05I am doing so much good,
17:07for my health.
17:08And,
17:09now,
17:10there is a thing,
17:11that,
17:12which is an outer factor.
17:13But,
17:14you sit at home,
17:15at one point.
17:16So,
17:17I also went to play badminton one day,
17:18but then,
17:19I thought,
17:20what is happening?
17:21Why should,
17:22we stop ourselves?
17:23This is also a thought,
17:24behind.
17:25But,
17:26again,
17:27I don't know,
17:28what can we do,
17:29when the government,
17:30is just not,
17:31hearing anything.
17:32If I were to ask you,
17:33that question,
17:34that we can unite,
17:35on so many things,
17:36why not pollution?
17:37Because,
17:38it doesn't affect us,
17:39immediately.
17:40It affects us,
17:41in one or two business years.
17:42That's why.
17:43If it were,
17:44grabbing our throat,
17:45right now,
17:46we would act on it now.
17:47Because,
17:48as Indians,
17:49I think,
17:50that time.
17:51Delayed?
17:52Yeah.
17:53I mean,
17:54it doesn't impact,
17:55so,
17:56it's coming,
17:57but,
17:58in two months,
17:59it will be fine.
18:00You will get a drink,
18:01you will get a drink,
18:02and then,
18:03you will lose,
18:04and then,
18:05you will lose,
18:06and then,
18:07you will lose again.
18:08Guys,
18:09I don't know,
18:10but,
18:11you have a song for it,
18:12which,
18:13perhaps,
18:14will make some sense.
18:15I hope it does.
18:16We might not have all the answers,
18:17today,
18:18we really hope to get it one day,
18:19but,
18:20there's a song,
18:21that might make you think.
18:22If we don't understand our words,
18:23perhaps,
18:24we can understand the song,
18:25so,
18:26please,
18:27over to you.
18:29Okay.
18:30So,
18:31my friend Vasu and I,
18:32we wrote this song.
18:33And,
18:34it's made to a very famous tune,
18:35of a famous Kawali,
18:36by Ustad Nusra Patalikan Saab.
18:37So,
18:38Vasu wrote this share,
18:39in the beginning.
18:40top 10 miyh Forever,
18:42beauty advise,
18:45From diamonds,
18:46and from Moon.
18:47Cover.
18:48And,
18:49from the beginning,
18:50geliyor do I not mistake,
18:51it will.
18:52And,
18:53or to Ch vou,
18:54tointo thistime,
18:55Surd Allah Plan.
18:56It's made my world,
18:57one day do I need to teach.
19:00well
19:01تعاونی پڑے گی
19:07دلی نسی آر میں آکر تو دیکھو
19:14तुम्हेں کلی نھوا بھول
19:17تعاونی پڑے گی
19:19دلی نسی آر میں آکر تو دیکھو
19:24Asthma bronchitis se
19:27Phr na bacho ge
19:29Bil hospital ka ghaata
19:33Kar to dekho
19:35Tumhe clean hawa
19:37Bool jani padegi
19:40Mirzat
19:40Tumhe clean hawa
19:42Bool jani padegi
19:45Dilli NCR me
19:48A kar to dekho
19:51Aap ki baat piaaram
19:52A kar to dekho ya
19:53I have last 30 seconds
20:05But I really want you to go over
20:07Mairi once and I would love to
20:09Leave our viewers also with this song
20:10You know we are laughing, we are smiling about it
20:13But we really shouldn't, it's a serious matter
20:15Please stop thinking your immunity
20:16Will fight it out and please stop thinking
20:18For once
20:19Kiski aadat padegi agar apne air purifier
20:22Laga liya ya mask laga liya
20:23These are very serious issues
20:24Please aapni doctor ki advice leen
20:26Or kisi ki nai
20:27Or filhal ke liye gana enjoy kare
20:29I wish
20:30I wish
20:43I wish.
21:13I wish.
21:28Oh.
21:43Thank you so much.
22:00Well, on that note, enjoy while you can this music because clearly what happens next we
22:08don't know. I just want to leave you all with this little note and this little thought
22:11that pollution is a serious matter. Think about it. Raise your voice about it. Demand.
22:16Clean air. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.
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