Understanding Music and wonders its does- Raga Therapy

Following article has been written by eminent singer and composer Runki Goswami

We all live a super busy life. All of us race from one job to the other every day. A family errand could be followed by crisis at office. We are always trying to mentally rearrange our schedule to insert a new requirement popping ever minute. 24 hrs is no longer good and we are left with a feeling that there aren’t enough hours in a day. Leading a hectic life is a part of our chosen lifestyle and practically not much can we do about it. The flip side to this is stress, anxiety and a host of other mental and physical issues. If this is reality, how to heal ourselves naturally? Is there something that can help us recoup from certain illnesses effortlessly? Well, there is an answer to all this in Music. Do you know that music is a natural healer? Modern science permits music as a therapy - to treat chronic and terminal diseases painlessly. Let’s delve a bit more into this and see if knowing this can help!

Music – what is it? Is music the same as talking or speaking? Would you classify a vehicle honk as noise or music – how are the two different? If noise is an irregular pattern of sound wave creating disturbance lending a painful experience, music is an organized combination of sound and silent moments that leave us relaxed and rejuvenated. We are in concord with the way music interacts with us, the way it yanks us in strange ways - cultivates, calms commiserates, exhilarates and strengthens us against the dark. What would life be without it – appallingly icy and hushed! Moreover, music is not about any physical existence unlike a painting or a sculpture. It is about sound waves hitting our ear drum sin a way to make us dance, laugh or cry. There has to be something about the impact of these sound waves that billions are spent annually in making music.

If I have to define music, it would be the net output obtained after mixing right proportions of melody, harmony, rhythm and cultural aspects, without which the heartfelt connect, would be a miss. If music is a global language, why is cultural sensitivity important? The cultural sensitivity of a habitation decides the type and style of music created and used. Music is a clear reflection of the sum totality of human behavior. It is a part of a man’s ethnicity, customs and social legacy. Folk music particularly provides a stimulating knowledge of history, literature, and culture of a country evident in its lyrics and composition style. For instance, there would be specific compositions for a birth of a child, marriage or even funeral.

Music, more so Indian Classical is imperative to my life and I have my parents to thank for that. So why is Indian Classical so important to me and why am I writing all this? Music gives me immense joy and for some reason I feel great when in the company of Indian music. It is believed that music can have both healing and therapeutic effects, and it is 100 percent true. Music in India was highly enhanced when Europe was still struggling to understand acoustics. Music was born in the Indian subcontinent with the advent of the Vedas – Samaveda to be specific. A creation so divine had to have more than a mere feel good factor. History has it that many sects in India chanted mantras in a typical way to alleviate certain physical ailments. Haridas Swami - guru of Tansen helped recuperate one of Akbar’s queens with a particular raga. The musical trinity of India, Saint Thyagaraja, Syama Sastri and Muthuswami Dikshitar brought a dead person back to life, cured stomach aches of many and also used music to pray for good health for mankind in general. It was done through certain raga’s in Indian classical, all of which are formed with handpicked notes to work on certain neurons of the human body. These Ragas are curated to belong to a particular time slot in a day and they work best when heard or sung then. There is much more to it than just this. Elements in parent raga’s control more than 100 nerves in the body and their ascending (aaroh) and descending (avroh) notes govern moods and mobility that play an important role in the therapeutic prowess of our own music.

Dr. Agarwal, one of the practicing neurologist of a well-known hospital in Delhi expressed a deep desire to use Indian Classical in music therapy to cure psychiatric and other diseases prevalent amongst patients in the hospital. White chatting with me, he cited anecdotes of his experience in one of the medical institutes in USA where music plays an integral part of any treatment. It was fascinating to hear that Indian Classical is used to treat oncology. Other non-terminal diseases are by default treated with music along with other regular medications. It is indeed sad that we do not realise the power of our music in our own country. The American Music Therapy Association says, “Music therapy is often used to aid improvement in multiple areas of brain function deficit and to improve quality of life, as well as facilitating physical healing. Music therapy uses multiple approaches to focus on different problems. For instance, rhythmic auditory stimulation is thought to aid movement, musical improvisation is thought to help emotional expression, while singing, oral motor and respiratory exercises are thought to assist speech. Even simply listening to music is thought to be a potential tool in the control of pain, which is notoriously problematic to treat in some cases”.

I could go on writing on this topic, however for those interested; I could briefly explain benefits of some ragas. Bhupali has helped wake up people from coma, Shiv Shambhu bhajans have helped cure back pain and slip dics, Ganpati bhajans have evoked confidence and dispelled fear, Krishna Bhajans have been used to treat depression and stress, Raga Hanswadhani has helped to regenerate cells and bring back energy after a health break-down, Raga Kaafi has been used to treat depression, Shiv Ranjani for sun stroke, Basant for paralysis and Neelambari (Carnatic) for Kidney concerns. What more, music therapy is also used on deaf patients. The vibrations of music – its rhythm is good enough to treat the hearing impaired.

Leaving you with a tip: Try listening to Raga Bhairavi when having a toothache, it does wonders. Also try playing this raga to T B patients, you will see the magic.

This information is for general use and all of us can use it in our regular lives for healing. However, a formulated method is observed when used as a therapy. Just like any other medicine, music therapy has its dosage and duration to be followed which a certified therapist can help you with.

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