Sanjay Meriya is known as Spindoctor in Mumbai music circles (courtesy thespindoclive)
Strong points
- “I am very patriotic,” said Sanjay Meriya
- “I can fight this way (as a doctor),” he added.
- He started working last month as a medical volunteer
Mumbai:
As Mumbai, the financial capital of India, battles an increasing number of coronavirus cases, local DJ Sanjay Meriya put aside his turntable and dusted off a long unused medical degree to help. Meriya, 30, known as the Spindoctor in Mumbai music circles, started working last month as a medical volunteer after spotting an advertisement in a government newspaper asking for help. He mainly went to a slum in one of the most affected suburbs of Mumbai, wearing a protective suit and gloves, to inform local residents of the precautions to be taken to keep the coronavirus away.
“I am very patriotic. I can fight this way (as a doctor),” Meriya, who has volunteered for at least three months, told Reuters. Mumbai represents more than 33,000 of the 158,000 Indians coronavirus case, making it the most affected city.
With public hospitals running out of beds and overworked health officials, volunteers like Meriya are all the more important. Meriya started getting into DJing as a hobby around the age of 20 while studying for her medical degree, but then said he “got the upper hand” – much to the dismay of his family.
“They hated it. They still hate it,” he said of his decision to devote himself to the profession of DJ.
Although concerned about his potential exposure to the virus, Meriya’s family is delighted to see him again in medicine. “They now have a lot to share with all of our loved ones, if you know what I mean regarding Indian families,” he said.
