Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri

It's real music to the ears of ailing patients


Dr. Claudia Lang came to Kerala searching for alternative ways of treatment of mental depression and other such psychological disorders.  Ayurveda was her prime interest.  Ms. Eva Jansen a cultural anthropologist from Munich University introduced Dr. Claudia to me.  Ms. Eva was introduced to me by Mr. MK Pramod of the Department of English of University of Calicut.


Dr. Claudia was interested in Music Therapy also.  We visited the Kuthiravattom mental hospital in Calicut and talked to many doctors including the director of the institute, psychologists and many patients.


We then met a famous Malayalam Musician and lyricist Sri Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri.  The music therapy institute he was building up was of real interest to her.  We spend a long time with Namboothiri and have listened to the recital of a shubhpanthuvarali number.


Music according to him is a rejuvenating proposition, a revitalising ingestion. Music can cure perturbed minds, bring in a calm most anxiolytics or antidepressants cannot bring in. Music may be addictive, sometimes, but it's a desirable addiction without any side effects.  The caressing touch of classical or popular versions of music in the minds of a sane or insane person can be felt and understood easily.  We listened spellbound to the recital of Kaithaproms powerfull humming, even that humming was really powerful enough to transport us to a world of tranquillity within no time.  It proves to us life is something worth living through.  


Even schizophrenics respond to music, the selection  of the raga and the patient has to match.  The moment must be auspicious.  It affects mind directly.  It's ingested to the mind directly.  The application is intra-intellectual and the dosage once daily.  There's wide gap between minimum effective dose and maximum effective dose and there are no lethal dose.  Dosage titration is very easy and patient compliance is very high.  Cost of therapy is minimal.  Drug availability is universal and the patient himself can produce the drug when he is put on the drug for a long time.  Addiction is the only side effect so far noticed.  


Let the music of comfort be played throughout everyone's life.

Music Therapy

The Power of Music

When a sound is produced by an animal there is a corresponding emotion behind it.  The sound is thus an expression of an emotion. An emotion can cause the production of a sound.  And in the same way a sound can produce an emotion too. 

Have you ever observed that the continuous blowing of an air horn of a vehicle produces abrupt outbursts of anger in any person who happen to hear that sound from close proximity?  Sometimes you might have seen that most of the feuds between a driver of a vehicle and other travelers or pedestrians are caused by this horn blowing. 

Medical textbooks say that continuous exposure to such sounds can produce conditions like hypertension, diminished olfactory functions, inability to concentrate in work or studies or even psychological problems like depression, unnecessary fear or concern etc. 

Men residing at close proximities to an airport are liable to have many mental and physical problems due to the continuous exposure to high pitched sound. 

From these we can understand that sound is really capable and powerful. 

The sounds of fireworks, red, black or such intense colours, heavy sounds form percussion instruments like Chenda, the blowing of heavy bugles, etc can also bring in changes in the moods of people. 

The rhythmic beating of temple percussion instruments transports you to an elevated trance like situation, where you sing or dance forgetting your status or social position, just like a child.  The thought of what others will think about me is absent at this juncture at least for a short while.  We human beings gets transported to the quintessential psyche of Adam.  The Adam before eating the forbidden apple was having this indigenous state of mind.

When a patter is followed in the sound, when a rhythm is followed in the production of it, when the trough and peak of the sound produced is kept within an acceptable range the sound becomes music.  Thus the power of the sound can be purgated.  It becomes capable of bringing out beneficial effects.  Sounds when formulated in the style get impregnated with a therapeutic prowess.   It can change the moods, it can transform the passions, it can console the worries, and it can heal a lot of human maladies.  Music can enthuse you up, making you capable of doing your job in a better way. 

The music from the flute of Lord Krishna was having a tranquilizing effect even on the cows and cattle.  Even now we can see that the animals also like music.  Many scientific studies have been conducted to measure the beneficial effects of classical music on plants and animals. 

Music is lubricates the clogged cogs of our mind.  It has a pacifying touch on disturbed souls.  When our mind is brought to a repose and rest most of the diseases gets cured fast or diseases can be prevented from attacking us.  The power of mind is immense, and the power of the mind can be augmented by musical powers.  This could be the reason why artist from any region, cast or creed are normally calm minded, contented and never indulges themselves in detrimental activities.  So music can be used to prevent the growth of some socially harmful activities. 

When medicines that cure one malady and make many are treated as curatives why can't we go for music which can cure many maladies and not cause any?