The wash brigade: Inculcating a simple habit to fight coronavirus pandemic

As the world population feverishly washes hands, an initiative by a small NGO in Uttar Pradesh seems prescient

Last summer, I happened to visit the Upper Primary School in Sonva village in Bakshi Ka Talab, Lucknow district. As the bell for the midday meal rang, the students, instead of running towards the kitchen, ran to the communal tap. As they washed their hands with surgical precision, they sang a song:

“With running water our two hands play,

In and out the colourful soap dances away!

It bubbles and froths between our fingers

Under our nails it cleans and lingers

Then all the soap we wash away!”

From a distance, school principal Kiran Mishra and I watched them. “It is amazing how one song has