Healing with ‘ragas’

Rajam Shankar treats autistic children with Carnatic music

 

Therapeutic notes: Rajam Shankar during a music therapy session with a student.

HYDERABAD: When the 12-year-old girl entered the cosy home of Rajam Shankar, she was humming what sounded like a ‘raga’. She observes her surroundings, smiles at her mother and continues to hum as she sits down waiting for Mrs. Shankar to sing to her.

The girl responds with a smile and tries to hum in unison. Humming might be natural for many of us, but for autistic children like her it’s a milestone.

Mrs. Shankar (57), who has been teaching Carnatic music for nearly three decades in Sainikpuri, decided to look at the therapeutic effect of music few years ago. “I was curious as to why only ‘Kalyani Ragam’ is sung during ‘Sreemantham’ ceremony and that’s how my research began,” she says.

After four years of study under guidance of her guru Kollegal R. Subramaniam, she decided to experiment the effect of various ‘ragas’ on the body. “Frequency of each ‘raga’ pulsates with ‘Chakras’ or energy powerhouses within our body,” she explains, pointing out each person responds differently to different ‘ragas’.

She started working alongside paediatricians Lakshmi Prasanna and Swapna Narendra of Little Hearts Children Hospital at its Sandeepani Healing Centre in 2004. “I started practically applying music as therapy with a dozen children to begin. Initially, they simply ran around and didn’t respond. Gradually, they started paying attention. After a month, doctors said the children were responding better than before,” she says.

Therapy first begins in a group and then moves on to individual therapy. “When a child in a group starts humming it means individual sessions can begin,” she says. Mrs. Shankar first studies the case history of the child and spends a couple of hours with the child. “I try different ‘ragas’, see the response and then zero in on the right one,” she says.

“The emphasis is on selecting a ‘raga’ appropriate to a child’s psychological finger-print,” she explains. Parents too vouch for this innovative therapy. Janaki, mother of the 12-year-old girl, says her daughter is much calmer now. “My daughter has shown lot of improvement after attending several music sessions,” she says.

However, she treats autistic children only if referred to by doctors and institutes like the Autistic Society and even NIMHANS. Mrs. Shankar’s fees are affordable and can be reached at rajams@yahoo.com.