Mangaluru: The message, which provides valuable information for avoiding coronavirus, says that one must cover their face with a handkerchief or a tissue while sneezing or coughing. It also advises the callers to frequently wash their hands properly with soap and water and avoid touching their faces. The message advises people to carry hand sanitizers. It also says to maintain a safe distance from people suffering from fever, cold or cough, in mobile phones are given by Dakshina Kannada district girls.

As we all know the Health Ministry had asked the Department of Telecommunications to order all the major telecom companies to add a 30-second COVID-19 prevention caller tune to their networks. According to the Health Ministry, BSNL, MTNL Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone-Idea all added the caller tune to their combined network of 117.2 crore users.

This initiative has not gone well with many people who are finding the repeated onslaught of the same message every time they call someone to be very annoying.

Many of us not aware of the voice-over artists of the COVID awareness caller tune in Kannada and Malayalam message are from Dakshina Kannada district.

In the Kannada language, there are three different caller tune awareness out of which voice for two caller tunes was given by Darel Jesintha Fernandes and Vidya Narayan Bhat.

Darel Jesintha Fernandes

Darel Jesintha is the daughter of D Valerian Fernandes and Lavina Fernandes of Padil. In 2013, a famous voice-over artist Sharavu Krishna Bhat who was then the Convener of the school she was working as a Physical Education teacher motivated her to give voice-over. Eventually, she giving voice for TV and radio advertisements.

A video of Darel Jesintha giving the voiceover has been shared on social media platforms. Darel Jesintha’s husband is an Indian soldier and is currently posted in Chandigarh.

Vidya Narayan Bhat

Vidya Narayan Bhat is another artist from Mangaluru who has given voice to the caller tune released by the government. Daughter of Muliya GopalaKrishna Bhat and Vani Bhat settled down in Delhi with her husband in 2009. She is a drama artist and used to give voice to the characters od the drama that were played on the radio. She was also hosting the Gramavikas program that telecasted in Doordarshan.

Tintu Mol Joseph

Tintu Mol Joseph, the voice behind the Covid-19 caller tune in Malayalam also has a Dakshina Kannada connection. Delhi-based Tintu Mol’s Parents, TV Joseph and Alice had migrated from Kottayam in Kerala to Sullia taluk in Dakshina Kannada district 24 years ago.

Tintu Mol worked as a voice-over artist for the past four years. Professor Purushotham Bilimale, also from Sullia, introduced her to Srikrishna Bhat, a Kannada voice-over artist in 2016. After her schooling in Kadaba and Modankap, Bantwal, and graduation (BA) from St Agnes College, Mangaluru, she moved to Delhi hoping to clear civil service exams. She joined Jawaharlal Nehru University for postgraduation in International Relations and later Bilimale suggested her to take up a few voice-over assignments to support her. Though was hoping for Kannada voice-over assignments, she got more offers in Malayalam.