Music therapy invigorates differently-abled in Kolkata

The moment Pt Tarun Bhattacharya starts strumming his Santoor, Biswas loses no time in making a place for himself beside him and trying his hand at the synthesizer.

The music therapy session at Depot at the E-Mall, turned out to be quite exhilarating for its enthusiastic participants and curious onlookers. The session organised by the Rotary Club of Calcutta Metro City for a handful of students from Divine Smiles, a school for autistic and differently-abled people, was a test-drive.

8220;I have tried music therapy on patients of depression, stress with successful results. I want to see how this works with these children,8221; says Bhattacharya. Indian classical music, especially the raagas, have a curious ability to forge a balance between the mind and the body, said the musician. 8220;I have been trying to use the power of music for healing,8221; offers Bhattacharya.

From violent drug addicts to suicidal NRI8217;s, Bhattacharya has seen music therapy deal with the bitterest difficulties in this world. 8220;Raaga Bageshree has amazing results on blood pressure. It has a mellowing effect almost instantaneously,8221; says Bhattacharya.

So, during the therapy session, he used raagas like Bageshree to first arrest the attention of his special guests and then tried to get them to play along with him as he belted out raagas like Bhairavi and Kirwani.