Ganeshotsav 2012: Visually impaired to show their musical side

In a first, visually impaired students will play dhol-tasha during the Ganesh immersion procession in Pune this year. A group of more than 50 visually impaired students will show their musical talent along with city-based Samarth Pratishthan troupe.

Samarth Pratishthan, one of the leading dhol-tasha troupes in Pune, has taken the initiative to train visually impaired students in music, so that they can show their skills during the most popular festival in the state.

Sachin Hodge, a senior member of Samarth Pratishthan, is training the boys from Poona School And Home For Blind Trust (PSHBT), Koregaon Park, in playing dhol-tasha, while Milind Pachange along with Rohit Gaikwad is teaching the girls from Poona School & Home For the Blind Girls to play jhanj.

Samarth Pratishthan president Sanjay Satpute said that the response from the students was very encouraging. Hodge said that visually impaired students learnt things in minimum time and had learnt the main seven beats in just five days.

“The joy on the faces of these students cannot be described in words and many have learnt playing these instruments for the first time,” Hodge said.

PSHBT principal Chandrakant Bhosale and administrative officer Krishna Shewale said that the school had always encouraged the students to learn new things and had provided them with a platform to display their skills. The students have won prizes at various competitions and it is for the first time that they would be playing dhol-tasha during Ganesh immersion procession in Pune.

Sainath Raju More, Shahrukh Ezaz Faruki and Raju Narendra Yadav are all standard X students who would be part of this troupe. Sainath and Raju play dhol, while Shahrukh is a tasha player. They have been practising under Hodge for a month for one hour daily and have rehearsed their lessons. Eager to play the instruments, the students have invited their writers, readers and friends to watch their performance during the procession.