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Cancer-stricken kids forget their blues with music at Tata hospital

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The group of patients taking lessons at the music class in the hospital
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Thumping feet, beats of bongo, and strumming of guitar fill the air on entering Tata Memorial Hospital, unusual sounds for a place for cancer patients. The otherwise morose set-up exudes positive vibes when young patients look forward to their music class in the Parel hospital.

For the past two months, children and their parents have been trying their hand at percussion and stringed instruments.

A group of close to 10 children have bongos and jambes neatly placed on their laps, thumping on them with joy. As the tempo rises, a uniform rhythm fills the room.

Fourteen-year-old Sagar Parmar is elated to lay his hands on the jambe. Parmar, who has Ewing's Sarcoma in the leg, a rare tumour which makes it difficult to walk for him, has just returned from a gruelling session of chemotherapy from the hospital clinic downstairs.

"Chemotherapy is hard on me. A 15-minute session can leave me dizzy, nauseated and weak. I do not feel like eating anything. But I seldom miss my music class. Although jambe and guitar are from different genres, in less than two months, I have developed a good command over both," he says enthusiastically.

A social worker at the paediatric oncology department, Ameeta Bhatia, says, "A chemotherapy session can make a child very ill and sick. The moment they step into the music session, however, they forget their pain. We have nearly 40 children and a few parents, who are learning music."

While the others are strumming away at guitar or thumping on the drums, 12-year-old Hanadi Ali is smilingly watching them. A patient of blood cancer, she has travelled from Yemen for treatment. "She used to be very reserved, never smiled. After stepping into the music class, she has transformed phenomenally. In no time, she volunteered to try her hand at the drums," says her mother Ifthekar.

Jahan Vandrewala, 29, who teaches percussion instruments to children at the hospital, says, "Hanadi would not respond to any emotion when she began here. Gradually, she started responding to the beats of bongo and would tap her hands to the rhythm."

Psychologist and arts-based practitioner Sachi Parmar, 28, is conducting her doctoral research on how alternative therapies like music, art and dance can relieve stress in patients. "We started the music classes with three children. With barely anyone to teach to, a few of us decided to play jambe ourselves. Curious children started entering the class after listening to the rhythms emanating from the room, and then there was no looking back," she says.

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