Singer Kanika Kapoor has opened up about her experience of being ridiculed in the media and trolled online, after she became one of the first Indian celebrities who tested positive for Covid-19.

“It was a tough time. It was more shocking than anything else, to see people just say anything without knowing the reality of the situation,” Kanika tells IANS.

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Last year, after the 42-year-old had announced testing positive for coronavirus for the first time, it was reported that the singer-songwriter had attended high-profile parties, instead of going into isolation after arriving from London. She had faced flak for not revealing her travel history and the Uttar Pradesh government had filed a case against her.

“It was really sad to see that people wanted to be so mean, despite knowing someone is so unwell. I (really) think it was quite bad and mean,” she says. “I hope people learn from it and understand what they say and what they mean. I really hope that after this pandemic, they would all get a better perspective and be more helpful,” she adds.

The pandemic, Kanika says, has heavily impacted artistes, and feels it forced them to start talking about ownership of their music.

“It was very tough because there was no daily income, and that’s what an artiste depends on. It made us think about the fact that all of the rights of our music are with a music company. I think it is high time that musicians start owning some of their publishing,” says Kanika.

“It is a sad situation — not just singers, even lyricists, composers and the musical players of the song; If there’s a situation like this, like the pandemic, where they don’t have their wages because of no live shows, there’s nothing to do. They have nothing to fall back on in situations like this, and that is sad,” adds Kanika, who recently released her single, “2 seater car” in collaboration with Indian-American musician Happy Singh.