Biennale Music: Govt General Hospital Doctors, Staff Offer Musical Therapy

KOCHI:
Doctors and staff at the Government General Hospital today administered a different dose of medicine- that of music as part of the weekly ‘Arts and Medicine’ show organised here as an initiative of the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF).
Staff at the hospital took time out from their regular duties to rehearse songs and eventually put up a an impeccable show for the crowd gathered at the hospital premises. The phenyl sprinkled corridors and otherwise grim atmosphere of the hospital were enlivened with the sprightly soul-warming music.
The patients were amused to listen to the songs played out by their helpful staff and generously applauded the performances. They hummed and swayed to the renditions, delivered by faces familiar to them.
“When medicine meets music – a rare reaction which is acceptable to the recipient occurs. It kick starts the healing process and slowly and steadily it relieves unwanted stress and makes a person feel at ease,
” said Dr Junaid Rahman.
“To be able to do something more than administering the usual medical procedures, we took to the stage to alleviate the pain of the patients who are in distress. KBF has given us the platform to make it happen”, added Dr Sandeep Shenoy.
The hospital staff together sang over 20 melodies – a mix of different flavours yet under the same genre of ‘music’. Staff nurse Soumya began with a prayer and Dr. Rani followed with the touching song, ‘Teri Aankhon Ke Siva’ from the 1969 movie, Chirag.
Following her, were doctors, Dr. Sandeep Shenoy, Dr Balamurali, Dr.Anil Kumar, Senior Dr.Junaid, Dr. Ciyus, Dr. Sumitra and others who sang individual numbers, interspersed with two duets- ‘Vaishaka Sandhye’ , sung by Prasad/Shaila and ‘Pathinezhinte Poonkarayil’ by Veena /Binu.
The 157th week of the all Wednesday ‘Arts and Medicine” show is conducted by KBF in association with Mehboob Memorial Orchestra and Lakeshore Hospital and Research Centre Limited, to offer solace to patients through music therapy.