Songs and Stethoscopes
- 12 Jun 2015
- Maria John
- Features
Music can calm, take away pain and bring joy to someone who is suffering. So what happens when music is taken straight to a hospital? It was an incongruous sight with doctors hurrying by examining medical results and patients with limbs in casts watching the concert, at the Ernakulam General Hospital.
The Kochi Biennale Foundation’s “Arts and Medicine†programme is held every Wednesday at Ernakulam General Hospital, in association with the Mehboob Memorial Orchestra. As soon as I stepped into the courtyard at the centre of the hospital I was enveloped by a sense of peace. Greenery surrounded me as I walked towards a small stage where the musicians were setting up. As the small concert started, people streamed in, drawn by the melodious strains of music. Doctors, patients and bystanders alike stood or sat around, enjoying the old cinema songs.The main singer was a petite woman named Geetha Ratnakaran, and as I spoke with her I learnt of her story. She was a cancer survivor who had been treated at this hospital. With a musical past, she was especially touched when she first witnessed the musical performances at the hospital. “It was so relaxing, it gave peace to the patients,†she said. Geetha loved to sing, and once she was well, she wanted to come back and give the gift of music to the other patients. “I want to come back and sing again,†she said after her performance was done.
Bonny Thomas, Research Co-ordinator from Kochi Biennale spoke about the event. It started in February 2014, and since then, there has been a long list of impressive artists performing at the General Hospital. “We are trying to create some pleasant moments,†said Mr. Thomas. The majority of the performances are music based, but other artists have come as well. Caricature, theatre and other artists have all enchanted audiences at Ernakulam General Hospital. Stop by the General Hospital any Wednesday morning, and you too will be charmed by the music or art performance.
