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Journalism of Courage
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This is an archive article published on August 5, 2012
Healing Songs
When six Spanish musicians and dancers took to the stage at Instituto Cervantes recently,the audience did not expect Spanish folklore with short sentences in Hindi thrown in.
When six Spanish musicians and dancers took to the stage at Instituto Cervantes recently,the audience did not expect Spanish folklore with short sentences in Hindi thrown in. The musicians,however,shifted gears and followed up the first piece with the Bollywood number,Senorita,while stomping on stage with luscious flamenco moves. Soon,the audience was on their feet and the artistes were in a tizzy.
The performance titled Music for Them was led by Pablo Castells,a Spanish philanthropist from Barcelona and a volunteer with the organisation,Streets of India.
It was during my stay in India that I realised how powerful music was and how its healing powers could reduce human suffering. It could help people forget their problems,even if it was for a short while, says Castells,who spent five years in voluntary work at Mother Teresas Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata.
Soon after,Music for Them was born and Castells began conducting musical tours in Kolkata and Rajasthan,performing at orphanages and hospitals among others. Castells,who visits India with volunteers every year,says that the objective is to provide music and entertainment to ill and impoverished people.
Castells says that the experience has been rewarding as much for him as for the people he performs for perhaps one of the reasons he keeps coming back. He recalls a performance in a hospital in 2009,when an old man started swaying to the song I am a disco dancer. Now that their 2012 tour is underway,the team is set to travel to orphanages,shelters and hospitals in Delhi and Gurgaon over the next few days.
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