Biennale Music: Mélange of Melodies for Patients at General Hospital

KOCHI:
The melodious notes of ‘Nalikerathinte Naatil’ pierced through the stillness of the morning, opening a concert of soul-warming songs by professional singers Sasidharan Palayil and Indu Manasijan at the ‘Arts and Medicine’ show organised by the Kochi Biennale Foundation at the Government General Hospital here today.
A joint initiative of the Kochi Biennale Foundation and Mehboob Memorial Orchestra and sponsored by CAFS (Casino Air Caterers & Flight Services), ‘Arts and medicine’, a programme that provides solace to patients through therapeutic music, entered its 192nd edition today.
After the first song by Sasidharan, Indu followed with, ‘Lokam Muzhuvan Sukam Pakaranayi’, extending the healing touch to the patients among the audience. Sasidharan sang a couple of evergreen Hindi songs, ‘Chahoonga Mein Tujhe’ from the movie Dosti (1964) and ‘Phoolon Ki Rani’ from the movie Arzoo (1965) both immortalized by the legendary singer, Mohammad Rafi.
The singers offered the crowd of patients, bystanders and medical staffers a duet, ‘Ilam Manjin Kulirumayioru Kuyil’ which was sung by the S Janaki and K J Yesudas duo, the song which drew huge applause. ‘Sindhoora Poove’ a Tamil song by Indu also added the multilingual touch to the show. In all, the duo sang thirteen songs, a mélange of unforgotten melodies which were composed to last for generations to come.
“People resort to music irrespective of time and place constraints; the only situation in which one refrains from listening to music is while in mourning. Music has the therapeutic effect to lift one’s soul and spirits when one feels down,” said Sasidharan who has been rooted in the music field for the past two decades.
The singers Sasidharan and Indu have sung for Edapally-based music troupe, ‘Amar Geet Bahar’. Sasidharan, apart from being a singer, is a noted script writer and voiceover artist in Hindi and English too. A native of Thrissur, he currently resides in Kochi.
Indu, a native of Ellore, was employed in the banking sector in the past and has now chosen professional singing, pursing her passion in music. Marking her 999th stage performance, Indu supported the male vocalist with her mellow renditions. Apart from being a talented singer she is also a good keyboard artist.