Elita gears up to engage with youth icons
Journalist and musician Elita Karim is now gearing up for her latest adventure in showcasing Bangladesh’s impactful youth through the ‘The Youth Unleashed’ webcast
Elita Karim, a songbird who serenaded us with hit songs like 'Ure Jete Chai,' 'Nijhum Raat,' 'Bristey''and 'Kothay,' is an individual who is hard to put in a box.
It's hard to guess her next move.
The singer, who also has a noteworthy over two-decade career as a journalist, leading popular magazines and writing for The Daily Star, is now planning her next project.
Recently The Business Standard had the opportunity to have a conversation with the artist about her career, passions and her ongoing projects.
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As someone who is passionate about working with today's youth, Elita, in association with the EMK Center, is working on her very own webcast featuring some of the most impactful young adults of the country.
The webcast that goes by the name 'The Youth Unleashed' will have 10 episodes. In each episode, a different "change maker" will feature and share their unique stories.
"We have read about them numerous times in the papers and occasionally on social media. Their complete story will, however, be told through this webcast in a way that has never been done before. I think it's necessary to establish a path for their visual recognition as well," said Elita, who had been fostering this notion for quite a long time.
Elita will be joined by some of the nation's most influential young leaders, including Ayman Sadiq from '10 Minute School,' Shah Rafayat Chowdhury from 'Footsteps,' Sadia Jafrin Khan from 'Grow Your Reader,' and many others; to hear their stories, most of which are focused on pressing issues.
Among the ten guests, some are working on water pollution, others on agricultural technology, some on music, and others on education. The narratives of these changemakers can resonate with young viewers, sparking the desire in some of them to contribute to similar meaningful work.
The webcast is part of Elita's exploration of what she sees in the emerging youth and she believes a lot of inspiring and innovative ideas are dormant among them.
"The percentage of people who can generate good ideas is very high in Bangladesh. Isn't that exciting? That is a huge change. Also to be positive amidst all the negativity - that in itself is exciting," she said.
The webcast is set to start airing in the first week of August. Over the course of ten weeks, every episode will be released and made available on all the social media platforms of EMK Center.
Last year Elita completed her Fulbright Fellowship as a Hubert Humphrey Fellow 2021-2022. Through the course of 15 months, she worked on various aspects of media and it was podcasts and webcasts that piqued her interests the most. The entire experience was refreshing for the singer.
"I liked going back to school. There were also many interesting things other than studies, like local newsrooms, how these local outlets function, how they are coping after the pandemic, and how they went from print to digital. These things are quite important."
Elita mentioned how she encountered journalists from different parts of the world and learned about their respective cultures and attributes.
"It was a fantastic platform for cultural exchange," she added.
During her fellowship programme, she was able to make time and took courses in music and copyright. For Elita, it was "both of her worlds" coming together.
Amidst all these, Elita Karim still continues to pursue her musical passion.
After returning to Bangladesh, Elita embarked on many music projects. She recorded a song in a mixed album with Joy Shahriar. She also lent voice to one of Bappa Mazumder's ventures titled 'Beautiful Voices', which also featured other female vocalists including Kona, Konal and Ankhi Alamgir.
The song has already been recorded and the music video will be shot soon.
"I also recorded a song composed by Kishore Das, while I was in the United States. The lyrics were penned by Kabir Bakul and the song is supposed to be a film track, so I am excited for it," she added.
Elita also recorded a song with the popular Bangladeshi band 'Renaissance' and will be featuring on a duet with Shitom Ahmed, a young artist who's grown quite popular on Spotify.
Like her journalism career, her music changed and evolved over the course of time.
"Change is constant but what's more important is knowing how to cope with the change. It's always easy for people to say just change your music but for me, it's important to hold my taste and listen to the music of the younger or newer generation," Elita concluded.
