Proto-ragas have a positive impact on mentally challenged children. These ragas have an impact on the moods and behaviour of these children.
The term ‘Proto-raga’ was changed by the volunteers of Nada Centre for Music Therapy, Chennai (www.nada.in) in the year 2005, when they were engaged in working on ‘appropriate ragas’ which could influence listening by the special children in a workshop organized at Visakhapatnam. The workshop was originally in-tended to observe the psychological and behavioural impact of some selected Indian ragas on these children who suffered from various degrees of mental retardation: ranging from near normal to severely retarded condition.
The ragas taken for the study were: Andolika, Asawari, Bihag, Brindavani Sarang, Hindolam, Kadanakuthoohalam, Kanada, Madhyamavathi, Nadanamakriya and Paras. All these ragas were experienced in three tempos – slow, medium and fast – with the help of competent musicians and musicologists present on the occasion. The following ragas were categorized as ‘alpha ragas’ :
Andolika, Bihag, Kanada, Madhyamavati and Nadanamakriya, essentially based on the various shades of love, compassion, fellow-feelings and absorption depicted by the in-built bhaava (emotional experience) underlying these raga structures. On the other hand, the following ragas could depict certain assertiveness (and at times aggressive expressions, especially when used with appropriate talas and tempos and with percussion) and glee: Asawari, Brindavani Saranga, Hindolam, Kadanakuthoohalam and Paras, and were, therefore, categorized as ‘beta ragas’.
While studying these ragas on their impact and observing the moods and behaviour of special children of Vizag, the research group of the Centre comes upon a treasure: the understanding that these children feel more ‘at home’ with lesser number of tones and number of repetitions! Thus, it was observed that instead of using all swaras (notes) as a trained musician would use while singing or playing a raga, a limited number of swaras and their clusters, greatly repeated would attract the children’s attention and engage them more effectively in music therapy sessions —meant for them exclusively.
This new finding of course, traces back to the very origins of Indian music. In Vedic times, Vedas were taught with simple intonations starting from ‘Om’ chanting. For example, Rig Veda, the oldest of the Vedas (5000 B.C?) used to be chanted with minimal variations in tone. `Archika’ was the name assigned to the manner of chanting the Vedic hymns in a single shruti. The `monotony’ involved in such chanting, no doubt would have been a very effective way of focusing on the Absolute with its resultant `deep sleep stage’ of consciousness! However, the human mind – being what it is – revels in complexities and chinoiseries! This must have motivated in the long run-towards adding up more swaras in chanting, culminating into a `singing’ Veda- Sama Veda. Thus, we have `Gathika’ where two tones (called Udatta, the High tone and Anudatta, the Low tone) came to be employed for chanting. And then we come across `Samika’ with three tones (Udatta, the High tone, Anudatta, the Low tone, combined with Svarita, the one sandwiched between these two). This must have been followed by four tones in Svarantha (with the arrival of what is referred to as Prachaya, which is located somewhere lower below the low Anudatta).
It may be noted here that the above four toned emanations in chanting are not the real ragas and they are just an arrangement of these notes. To qualify to be a raga, the music traditions have demanded a minimum of five notes on its body.
It is interesting to work out a five-swara raga structure (akin to Raga Revati in Carnatic music), subsequently culminating into a parent-scale such as Kharaharapriya.
It is but a fact that while ragas such as Revathi and Kharaharapriya depict a full growth, the four swara-arrangements we have seen above are their retarded version. And in this context, the preference of special children for a few notes- rather than towards a ‘fully loaded’ ragas shows a great significance. A well-developed music, in our opinion, presupposes an alert and fully-formed brain. And to form such a brain, it is also perhaps necessary to be trained with a `well developed’ music such as classical music which has reached its zenith in the great works of the Indian and Western Trinity- Bach, Beethoven and Mozart in Europe and their contemporaries, Thyagarja, Dikshitar and Sama Sastry in India.
In view of the issues relating to brain development and deformation, it appears logical to conclude that the special children need to be shown special considerations while selecting the raga structures for their music therapy sessions. It is prudent therefore to go for simple tunes based on nice lilts and rhythms with almost endless repetitions than to play or sing to them the concert-style, grammar rich ragas! Proto-ragas are indeed a boon for those who are mentally challenged.
Bibliography
- Ravi Kannan, R. 2006 ‘Music Therapy- An evidence-based Approach’
- T.V. Sairam (ed.) -Music Therapy: The Sacred and the Profane. Chennai: Nada Centre for Music Therapy.
- Sairam, T. V. 2011 – ‘Raga Therapy’, Global Ayurveda, Jan-Feb issue. Page 50-56.
- Sairam, T.V. 2004. Medicinal Music, Chennai: Nada Centre for Music Therapy).
This article was published in AYURVEDA AND ALL – JULY 2011 – Pages 29, 30
Edited by Geeta Shreedar, August 25, 2021