MUMBAI: Imagine a world without kids... empty gardens, vacant swings and see-saws! This is exactly the sentiment, which resonates in Salim-Sulaiman’s new single ‘Khalipan.’

Penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya, the soul stirring single was composed by the music composer duo post the Peshawar school massacre, which claimed the lives of nearly 141 children. Sung by Salim, the song is a tribute to the innocent lives who never returned home from school.

“We all remember the horrific incident at Army Public School, Peshawar where the victims were the tiny kids who actually hid under benches to avoid bullets. This was something that trigged the thought in Sulaiman and me that what if our kids do not come home someday? And that’s the reason why we as artists made the single in memory of the kids who lost their lives to terrorism,” said Salim.

With this, the duo hopes to reach out to the sponsors of such a “heinous” act. “If this single reaches out to even one person who supports this act, we will be successful,” he added.

The song begins with mind boggling statistics stating that more than 200 million children till date have lost their lives to terrorism. The video features both Salim- Sulaiman and ends with the heart breaking line - “The smallest coffins are the heaviest.”

When asked about their expectations from this track, Salim said, “I do not make music for expectations. I do it because I am an artist and I feel about the cause.”

The duo finished composing the song in January 2015, which is powered by Qyuki and went to Poland to shoot the same. “We shot the song in April because in the months of February and March, Poland is very cold. Also it was not possible to have an empty town in India so we had to go to Poland,” he explained.

Happy and satisfied with the way in which the song has been shot, Salim is of the opinion that doing an independent project is a little difficult as one requires a lot of funding to shoot the song with grandeur.

Prior to this the duo had released their single ‘Astagfirullah’ on the occasion of Eid. Additionally, Salim also rendered his vocals for a couple of songs in the film ‘Wedding Pulao’ recently.