Kerala Governor recites couplet to ask people to stay at home during lockdown

"Yun hi basabab na fira karo, kisi shaam ghar bhi raha karo" (Don't roam around without any purpose, stay at your home). Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan broke into poetry during a video conference with President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday to emphasise the significance of social distancing to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Khan lauded the role of the government, voluntary organisations, medical professionals, paramedics and the police to act in a coordinated manner to persuade people to maintain social distancing in Kerala, a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

Reciting a couplet, he said, "Yun hi basabab na fira karo, kisi shaam ghar bhi raha karo" (broadly translates to: Don't roam around without any purpose, stay at your home) to emphasise the significance of social distancing, it said.

Further, 1,800 retired doctors and MBBS students in Kerala have enlisted with the state government to volunteer with their services if the need arises, the statement said.

"375 psychologists are also roped in to give advice to those who find quarantine as a difficult phase in their lives. This is considered to be an innovative move in Kerala worth emulating for other states," it said.

In a video conference with the Governors, Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of the states and the UTs, the President along with Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu asked them to find ways to complement the efforts of the central and state governments in meeting the challenges arising from the outbreak of COVID-19.

President Kovind and Vice President Naidu expressed hope that the Indian society's inherent strength of "sharing and caring" and the government's measures would mitigate the sufferings of the most vulnerable sections of society, particularly workers of the unorganised sectors and the destitute, the statement said.