Not just the (un)sung, sing for the (never)sung

While singing for the sung (heroes) has been in vogue for centuries, singing for the unsung (heroes) is catching up. Dhoni (for wicketkeepers) is a celebrity, Buffon’s farewell (for goalkeepers) hit record re-tweets, Amit Shah makes the posters (for kingmakers) and several unsung army-men raze social media.

 There’s a class below, though, that deserves not less viz., the never sung heroes. They’re engaged in work that can never draw our attention whatsoever but it’s critical to our survival. They’re our sewer men, who make our sanitation work while risking their lives in asphyxia and toxic drains. They’re our standard bearers who will carry flag-poles in wars and kill themselves without fighting when the team goes down. They’re the early pacers in distance running that keep rival star athletes at bay as their team men prepare for glory. They’re the undercover spies who die anonymously in foreign lands. They’re our security men, who will work two shifts but not blink an eyelid.

 I bet you don’t know a single one of them! And if you do, it’s simply because they’ve failed once in a million tries. But they are singularly essential for the hygiene of a city, morale of an army, spirit of a sports-loving country and the collective wealth and health of countries and organizations. The unsung makes the sung hero thrive, the never sung lets them survive.

 They’re the OfBians that slog through a day, but more so at night – finance, fulfilment and operations for night invoicing, QC teams physically checking our stock away from the city and tech teams uploading code post midnight. We’ve not sung ballads to them but each OfBian continues to pat them!

 As you dance and sing ‘round the Lohri fire, sing not just to the sung and unsung but to the never sung.

Happy Sunday!