Wise Wednesday guest speaker Dr. T V Sairam is a founder-member of the Nada Centre for Music Therapy (2004) and the Indian Music Therapy Association (2018). He identifies himself as a former administrator, economist, ethnobotanist, and musicologist. He is a retired civil servant (IRS). He has done pioneering research on herbs, alternative medicine, environment, art, aesthetics, architecture, music therapy, and nada yoga in India for the last 30 years. He has written over 350 articles and 16 books, besides two dictionaries – published by reputed publishing houses like Penguin, Nada Centre for Music Therapy, and others.
He has traveled and lived in many foreign countries and has globally lectured and trained music therapists worldwide as a course director of the Nada Centre for Music Therapy (NCMT). He serves as guest faculty of many universities, including the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) and the World Federation of Music Therapy (WFMT).
Dr. T, V Sairam’s Publications
“In life, everything starts from self. Music has no meaning until you believe in it.”
Dr. t. v sairam
Budding Creative
Dr. Sairam started writing when he was 7 or 8 years old. Passionate about writing, he created handmade magazines to be circulated amongst his classmates. The clever prankster made his teachers’ cartoons. His teachers did not appreciate this, and Sairam often got into trouble for his creativity.
Published Works
Dr. Sairam wrote a four-volume book set on Home Remedies. The carefully curated books are a go-to reference to herbs and home remedies. There are seven volumes on music therapy that include topics like ‘Self Music Therapy on self-healing. ’ Raga Chikitsa. ‘Medicinal Music’ book explains how music can be profitably utilized as a medicine. A Digest has been made of all scientific references like pediatric, music in pre and post-operative conditions, etc. It is just the tip of the iceberg, and in-depth research is still going on.
As Founder of the NADA Centre for Music Therapy, the center is entirely funded by donations. Dr. T V Sairam shares how the center has flourished and evolved over the years to become digitized entirely, with all the training sessions being held online
Seeking Music for Healing
Dr. Sairam was broken when his wife passed. He used music to lift himself from the abyss of depression. He research in music brought him to Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart. This music was well-researched with strong healing tones. Dr. Sairam describes Western music as more masculine compared to Indian classical music, which softens and cajoles a person. He calls the Raga system brilliant with the intricate in-depth coding it offers to its devotees. His research led him to discover the Nada Centre for Music Therapy.
Experience with Healing
Dr. Sairam’s observation of various chronic ailments led him to write the books on cost-effective home remedies via affordable herbal medicines. A staunch believer in herbal medicine, he took Ayurvedic medicines till the age of 65. Owing to advancing age, he shifted to allopathic medicines with growing age. He shared how great western medicines were except that agony or suffering stayed though the life was prolonged. He states how we sometimes need to choose between the devil and the deep sea when the side effects turn out to be more than the main effects.
The Turning Point – Music Therapy
A writer by accident, Dr. Sairam’s writing on music was a way to pour out his feelings to overcome his problems through therapy. Everything starts from self and music, life, and the human brain are mysteries. If one has faith, one can cure oneself. Music to cure oneself is termed ‘Self Music Therapy.’ Dr. Sairam talks about collaborative research on ‘Hospital Music Therapy.’ The Nada Centre is conducting a distance learning course that started in 2004 as a correspondence course and has evolved to be the Post Graduate Diploma in Music Therapy which has trained about 500 students. Dr. Sairam believes that music is the key to treating patients pre and post surgeries in the cold and sterile hospital environment. Along with his fellow music therapy believers, he started the Indian Music Therapy Association in 2018 in Bengaluru. It is currently working with 100+ professional music therapists and music lovers.
Music as Alternative Medicine
Dr. Sairam lobbies for music therapy to be accepted as an alternative medicine recognized by the government as in most developed countries, it is a common practice. Many youngsters with a music and dance background are a part of this journey other than their existing professions as doctors. The Nada Centre has experimented with music for pregnant women, youth, and people in trauma. He states that much improvement and internationalization are required for music therapy as no particular music has been defined for specific treatments. He shares how in ancient India, during deliveries, a veena player was invited along with a nurse to divert the pain of the delivering women to the music for a smooth delivery experience.
Resources
http://www.nada.in has rich material to explore music therapy and its potential to cure ailments and enhance wellness and wellbeing.
Hello,
I am based in Kolkata and would like to hold workshops for music healing and therapy here.
Would you be interested in collaborating?