Fame has been a double-edged sword for Duleshwar Tandi, better known as Dule Rocker. The 26-year-old went viral in 2020 for rapping about the plight of migrant workers in raw videos made on a mobile phone in his native district, Kalahandi, in Odisha. Released when daily wage labourers—overlooked by authorities in various states—had been walking back to their hometowns, Tandi’s angry demand, ‘Sarkar, Jabab De’ (Government, answer us), moved many in the country including established musicians such as Vishal Dadlani. 

Tandi has since posted 26 videos on his YouTube channel, all foregrounding societal concerns, and has more than 34,000 subscribers. ‘Telling the Truth’, which called out fake poll-time promises by ministers, and ‘No Corruption’, about the ill of graft in the country, were particularly well-received. He also put into verse the experiences of the disenfranchised, of farmers, and of Covid-19 frontline workers.