Arts and Medicine Sails into the 200th Episode with Singer Afzal and Family

KOCHI:
‘Arts and Medicine’, an all-Wednesday musical initiative which debuted in February 2014 with the lofty objective to provide solace to patients through therapeutic music and enrich the ambience in hospitals, will hit a milestone by organising its 200th episode tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Government General hospital, Ernakulam — a robust affirmation of its burgeoning popularity.
The programme, launched by Prof. K V Thomas, former Union Minister who currently represents the Ernakulam constituency in the Lok Sabha, is now poised for its bicentenary episode and has featured an array of amateur and professional singers crooning their craft to provide solace to patients, bystanders and medical staffers alike.
A joint initiative of the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF), which organizes the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), and Mehboob Memorial Orchestra, the programme is sponsored by Casino Air Caterers and Flight Services (CAFS). The 200th episode of the programme will feature noted playback singer Afzal, who has the distinction of being the first artist to perform at the inaugural episode of Arts and Medicine.
The KBF has walked an extra mile to introduce this programme in the hospital and run episode after another incorporating various singers in different genres of music. The medico-musical venture has seen a variety of arts-related activities evolving into programmes at the Ernakulam General Hospital. Besides vocal and instrumental music, the programme has also showcased caricature, theatre, portraits and painting at the hospital with the medical staff often joining the initiatives.
Artists from various walks of life have graced the stage and dazzled the crowd on a weekly basis. Musicians ranging from Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri to Evaniya Shinu, from Malayali actors Jayasurya and Ramya Nambeesan to renowned oncologist Dr. V P Gangadharan, from staffers of banks to LIC, from doctors of the General Hospital to members of a Whatsapp group – the journey of Arts and Medicine has truly been a variegated and enthralling one. Singers and musicians like Markose, Sithara, Ranjini Jose, Jerry Amaldev, Berny Ignatius, Biji Bal etc. have also entertained the crowd at various occasions through the musical journey.
The programme has never failed to entice a regular crowd which devotedly visits the hospital to attend the event on Wednesdays.