Touching hearts through music

A choir comprising first-generation learners spent an afternoon with a group of elderly people with dementia and connected with them over music last week.

The girls sang old Hindi and Bengali numbers and at the end of a 45-minute programme, a 78-year-old man told one of the girls: “We would want to have you over again.”

That was genuine feedback because a person with dementia does not know how to camouflage their feelings and would not have said so if he did not feel connected, said Nilanjana Maulik, secretary of the Alzheimer’s & Related Disorders Society of India, Kolkata chapter, at Santoshpur.

The residents join the choir during its performances.

The Telegraph

For the NGO, Kolkata Social Project, which has formed the choir, the idea is to reach out to old-age homes or similar places and connect with the residents through music, creating visibility for themselves.

“People with dementia connect with young people more because, unlike the adults, the young ones are not judgemental. On many occasions in the body language of adults, there is a certain assumption about those with dementia and the ‘I am here to help you,’ approach. Such overt feelings of sympathy or support do not go well with people with dementia,” said Maulik.

“It was for these reasons that we entertain intergenerational activities,” she added.

The group at Alzheimer’s & Related Disorders Society of India included the elderly in the age group of 54 to 81.

At the end of the session, there was interaction between the two groups. The girls spoke about the course they pursued and their career goals.

The choir hand-picked by Anjan Raichaudhuri, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Kolkata, who later taught at these institutes, was formed about two years back.

Raichaudhuri trains them not just to sing but also to perform on stage with confidence.

When they started, it had been for a street audience, many of whom were people from the neighbourhoods the girls come from. But they have excelled and how much.

Last December they performed during the Christmas carnival at an elite club.

“Through our choir, we want to reach out to such places or old-age homes in the city and do outreach through music therapy. Music unites and heals across all age groups,” said Mohuna Dutta, CEO of Kolkata Social Project.