It’s a novel concept to spread the joy of music as well as wellness among less-privileged children. As the sweltering heat hits Mumbai, a specially-equipped bus with musical instruments will roam around the city, halt for half an hour at a destination, impart lessons and then move on.
The Mumbai-based organisation, The Sound Space (TSS), plans to start ‘Music on Wheels’ that will move around the city’s bastis with a music teacher and an attendant. They will gather children between the age group of four and 12, and teach them various musical concepts. The interactive sessions will also act as sound therapy where children can de-stress.
“Many children are unable to go to school or don’t have a better way to spend their time. So we are taking the classroom to them,” say Kamakshi, 34, and Vishala Khurana, 32, sisters and co-founders of TSS. The bus to be operational from May will initially be limited to 10 bastis based on the permission to park it.
TSS was started 13 years ago with an objective to help children and adults achieve wellness through sound and music therapy. The bus is an extension of exactly that—a medium for the music to reach more people. Their innovation in traditional Indian music has led to specially-curated programmes that not just aim at teaching music in a deconstructed form but also using it as a stress buster to achieve inner balance.
“When a group of people come together and create a common voice or one sound, it gives them a sense of achievement. They come close to each other to match their voices. This helps in overcoming depression and anxiety. It also helps to regularise the heart rate. Overall, music helps in building a community where over a period of time more and more people will start seeing benefits from it,” they elaborate.
The Khurana sisters had started learning music at the age of three. “We understood the value of art early on. We believe that the power of music should touch every single life,” they say. Having studied Psychology helped them to understand the human mind and how to positively impact it with the help of music. So TSS works extensively with NGOs and care centres apart from schools and corporates. “Training more people and spreading the joy of music is a goal for us,” the duo adds. A melodious goal, indeed!
Music for a cause
✥ TSS will organise a concert at CSMVS Children’s Museum in Mumbai on February 27.
✥ In this event, 40 children from the city NGOs will perform to raise Rs 50 lakh to fund ‘Music on Wheels’.