Morning ragas heal and soothe Tihar inmates

 Many swayed their heads and tapped their feet while some sat still - heads bowed and eyes shut - in deep thought, as if deciphering what lies ahead as the soulful melody of the Bairagi Todi raga reverberated in the air. Hundreds of inmates of Delhi’s Tihar Jail had a spiritual experience on a rainy morning here Wednesday in a bid to augment their rehabilitation process through music.

The second edition of “Morning Ragas” was organised by the Tihar Jail authorities in collaboration with Legends of India, a registered society organising live performances of renowned <g data-gr-id="22">artistes</g> in the central lawn of Jail No.5 that has around 800 convicted prisoners, from pickpockets to murderers.

Renowned sitar player Pandit Shubhendra Rao and his wife Saskia, who plays the cello, accompanied by tabla player Shailendra Mishra began their hour-long recital with Bairagi Todi and two popular compositions — Mahatma Gandhi’s “Vaishnava Jana To” and the “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram” bhajan followed by a “classical <g data-gr-id="28">dhun</g>”, leaving the audience mesmerised.

The around inmates, seated on plastic sheets due to the wet grass under a purple coloured marquee filled the vast ground as around a dozen policemen stood guard surrounding them. 

Many possessed a fine sense of music as they enthusiastically applauded the complex compositions especially the ones that oscillated between high and low octaves.

Some of them were even tapping one of their hands against the other to match the beat of the tabla and it was quite evident that the rhythmic <g data-gr-id="23">jugalbandi</g> between the tabla, sitar and the cello had taken them to a different dimension. 

In fact, one could have easily mistaken the convicts to be connoisseurs of classical music. And this is what Legends of India set out to achieve in the first place, society chairman Dipayan Mazumdar said.