By Nayak Paudel

Kathmandu, Mar 29: Artistic performance through live streaming is not new where the artists come live, interact with their fans and play a few songs for them.
But the recent live performances by artists through the social media platform are mostly focused to entertain their fans as more than a billion people across the world are indoors due to the lockdown imposed to control the spread of COVID-19.
As multiple artists across the globe have been coming live and helping their fans in a difficult situation that the whole world is going through, the Nepali artists have also joined them by entertaining their fans, especially after the enforcement of nationwide lockdown beginning from March 24.
Earlier on March 20, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had announced a temporary ban on international flights and vehicular movements on long routes along with all non-essential services.
With the enforcement of the lockdown, most people have been staying home, and the artists have taken the social media to entertain those indoors.
Since March 23, Deepak Bajracharya, a Nepali singer, has been coming live with a prior notice through his Facebook page every day with a hashtag #MusicalMedicine. Bajracharya is accompanied by the members of the Rhythm Band, a Nepali pop band.
“Let’s try to be positive, stay close to our loved ones and keep ourselves happy and entertained during these difficult times,” reads Bajracharya’s status on March 28 where he also notifies the fans regarding the time of his live show.
Alongside Bajracharya, Niran Shahi, the vocalist of the Anuprastha Band, also came live on March 26 to entertain the fans with some beautiful songs.
'Stay home and stay safe' read the caption while Shahi came live through Anuprastha’s official Facebook page.
“Work and colleges are closed so the day passes listening to numbers of songs each day as music helps a day to pass by. And with Nepali artists coming live to entertain us, it helps a day to pass by in a happy way. Every day I go through social page and accounts of artists to see if they are coming live,” said Roshan Shrestha, a BIT student, who also works as a Java intern.
While some artists have been coming live, one Nepali artist has been uploading one new song every day for a week.
On March 21, Swapnil Sharma, vocalist of the band The Shadows ‘Nepal’, posted a status through his Facebook account stating that he would upload one song a day in a bid to utilise the lockdown and let everyone to hear a new song every day.
In the status, Sharma also requested for theme, script, story line or any topic from his fans, who were quick to reply in the comments with various suggestions.
On March 22, Sharma uploaded his first song which spoke about how there was a win in remaining alone during the recent scenario that the world, including Nepal, was facing.
Sharma, who has been a rock icon for many Nepalis, including the emerging artists, continued to upload new song each day after the status. The latest one uploaded was Sharma’s sixth song on the sixth day which was about a one-sided love.
However, Sharma has not limited the songs to love. On March 24, the third song on the third day of the lockdown spoke about the problems faced by women in the societies.
“As a music lover, the daily new stuff by Swapnil Sharma is very inspiring and a great thing to witness. I personally feel he is trying to spread positivity through his creation,” said Prasun Sangroula, who is doing Masters in Journalism from Madan Bhandari Memorial College, Kathmandu.
As per Sangroula, who is also an aspiring singer and a songwriter, Sharma is also encouraging everyone to be creative while staying home for weeks.