Biennale Music: Musical Renditions Driven by Charitable Inclination at General Hospital

KOCHI:
Charitable inclination was what motivated professional singer and fashion designer Rahim Ali to perform along with co-singer Pooja Sanjeev and enrapture the crowd at the Government General Hospital here for the weekly ‘Arts and Medicine’ programme organised by the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) on Wednesday.
The 233rd episode featured several melodies and popular numbers in Malayalam and Hindi. The mélange of songs was peppered with a couple of duets like Chup Gaye Sare Nazare and Valkannezhuthi Vanapushpam.
Rahim set the tone and tenor for the programme by singing a popular Malayalam number, Veendum Padam Sakhi. It was the forerunner of a medley of ditties which enthralled the audience. The programme concluded with the hit romantic number, Dil Kya Kare Jab Kisi Se, from the 1975 Hindi movie Julie.
Rahim, a native of Karukapally , Ernakulam started singing at the tender age of four and has been pursuing his interest since then for the past four and a half decades. He visits the old age home at Thevara on special occasions to bring cheer to its inmates and brighten up their spirit through his musical performance.
“I waited for my chance to perform for the patients at the hospital. The crowd implored us to render popular songs of their choice and we were fully prepared for it. The contentment that one finds from seeing the radiant faces in the crowd is heartening and ennobling,” said Rahim, who has founded a music troupe – Cochin Goldens.
Pooja, from Fort Kochi, is part of the upholstery and furnishing business that her husband runs. But she has an irresistible passion for music and keeps performing on stage in Ernakulam and Fort Kochi.
A joint initiative of the KBF and Mehboob Memorial Orchestra, the all-Wednesday ‘Arts and Medicine’ programme seeks to provide solace to patients through therapeutic music. The musical show draws a fair crowd and has featured several renowned artists since its inception in 2014.