I watched the documentary on how music and singing could help those with Dementia today.
Earlier we saw how, speaking about the magic of music in the YouTube series "Songs of the River", Shantanu Moitra learns that the singer Bombay Jayashri has been caring for children with autism for some 17, to 18 years, using music to heal their souls. Jayashri narrates how she came to care for them. Expecting the audience to sing words of praise as usual after one of her shows, she was taken aback when a kid walked up to her and told her repeatedly that she had sung wrong which hurt her. She came to know the next day from his mother that he had autism. True to what he had said when she received the recordings of the show later she saw the mistakes she had made without realizing it. She says that that boy Prakash that day actually cared for her performance. This changed her perception of many things she tells Shantanu. "Then one thing led to another. My student Abhinaya and I spoke about it." She told her student Abhinaya, "Maybe we could share music with children inclined towards music." They started visiting schools where they had special children and singing for them. She tells us that she has been doing it for about 17, to 18 years (at the time of the interview).
We also saw the documentary "America's Musical Journey" which spans the whole origin and evolvement of American music. Here too we are told that children with autism who have trouble connecting with anyone connect with music better than with people. "Music has a profound power. And today doctors are finding out that music is a powerful tool that helps kids with autism. Words are a challenge for children with autism. They often find music easier to understand because music is processed by a different region of the brain", narrates its host Morgan Freeman.
Similarly, my daughter pointed out that those who stammer to speak, sing wonderfully though because they use a different part of their vocal cord. I told her that a short film covered the same.
Agathiyar who was shown to us as God in the skies and heavens, crossed the bridge and came into our lives as a Guru lighting up the path. He was both Father and Mother caring for us with love and compassion before becoming our Companion on the journey. Now he is our beloved. A devotee and reader shared her favorite song that she would relate to Agathiyar.
I too could relate Agathiyar to the lyrics and music of the following song.
Indeed music is known to pacify and calm us.