Singer Trio – Anwar, Basheer and Praveena Offer Solace of Melodies at General Hospital

KOCHI:
Sagging spirits received a soothing balm as the lilting Hindi melody of ‘Mera Mehaboob Aayaa He’ rendered by city-based singer Anu Anwar Abdulla cascaded through the premises of General Hospital Ernakulam here, as part of the weekly ‘Art and Medicine’ show of the Kochi Biennale Foundation.
Anwar along with Praveena Vinu and Basheer P K sang a total of 15 numbers in Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil for the programme conceived by the Foundation to offer music as a therapeutic tool.
‘Krishna Nee Begane’ , the devotional number was sung by Praveena Vinu followed by a Tamil song and Hindi retro numbers by Basheer, ‘Elaya Nila’ ,’ Mana HoTum’ ,‘ Main Shayar To Nahin’. Anwar sang Malayalam songs, ‘ Cherupathil Nammal Randum’, ‘ Prana Sakhi Njan’ among other popular yesteryear numbers. The show concluded with the song, ‘ Mazhavil Kodi Kaavadi’ by Praveena.
The crowd comprising patients, bystanders and hospital staff that gathered in the corridors and lawns of the hospital showed their appreciation of the singers with loud rounds of applause.
Basheer, the son of old-time Fort Kochi singer Kunju Muhammed defied all odds in his fight against Polio and channelised his strength into music. His association with an organisation named, ‘Kripa’ – Aluva got him closer to the world of music and he has been singing for over 20 years now .
“When life seemed to have come to a halt, music was the sole driving force which took me forward in life. I am certain that the relief one gets from music heals the body and soul”, Basheer said.
Anwar, who trained in playing the harmonium under Sharif Master, specialises in Ghazals, old Malayalam and Hindi songs. Praveena , a Carnatic music vocalist who is currently training in Hindustani music under Fayaz Khan, has sung in numerous devotional albums and in telefilms.
All the three singers extolled the efforts of KBF in organising such an initiative exclusively to provide musical therapy for patients.
This week’s edition marked the 154th episode of the wee
kly, ‘Arts and Medicine’ show organised by the Kochi Biennale Foundation in association with Mehboob Memorial Orchestra and Lakeshore Hospital and Research Centre Limited to provide solace to patients.