A band of doctors
Vaidya aims to create music that has a therapeutic effect on people.
What comes to one’s mind at the mention of the word ‘doctor’ is a person sporting a white coat, gloves and a stethoscope, smelling disinfectant. Here are 10 doctors who might change that image with one song – a Malayalam mashup that garnered five lakh hits in less than a week of its release.
Their band Vaidya – Healing Music is based on the theory that music has a therapeutic effect on people suffering from ill-health, an awful mood or an unpleasant day.
The two videos brought out by the 10 friends of the 2011 MBBS batch of MOSC Medical College, Kolenchery, never give away that they all are non-professional musicians. Vaidya is what they call Kerala’s first ‘Medicos Band’
Dr Sijil P., the band director, says it was all unplanned. “We haven’t performed as a team during college days. Our first performance as a band was at the convocation. The response from the students and teachers made us think seriously about starting a band,” he begins.
A kalathilakam during his school days, Dr Sijil wanted to explore his artistic talents even while pursuing the medical course. He made his classmates a part of his music videos as singers. He also watched out for those who had talent, which would have slowly died if there was no platform. When the idea of a band came, a voice test was done and the best were chosen to form Vaidya. But there were so many hurdles – like busy schedule, lack of practice sessions, non-availability of all members at the same time, etc. However, they have proven that anything can be done if there is the will and passion. “After completing our internship in July, all of us were back to work – some practicing and others preparing for higher studies at many places. Getting together for composing, recording and practice was not easy. We managed to do it at odd hours and usually went for late night recordings. Everyone was not available, so we split the work. And we made sure none of these affected our doctoral duties,” Dr Sijil reveals.
The band has on board Dr Athira Prakash, Dr Devi Venugopal, Dr Maithili P. Shaju, Dr Rhea Anna Kurian, Dr Selan Thomas, Dr Sandhra Reji (vocals), Dr Cyril Mathew George (Guitar Acoustic), Dr Sumi Maria Sebastian (Guitar Electric), Dr Nikita Sara (Keyboard) and Dr Sijil himself handling the percussion, video editing and colouring. For some technical aspects, they had to rely on professionals.
“We are amateurs, but we were determined to do it in a professional way, bringing out our best. We raised the funds with the contributions from our college friends and ourselves. The recording happened at Noise Head Quarters, Ernakulam. They were very cooperative and helped us a lot by even slashing the rent. The contributions of sound engineers Kiran Lal, Ajil Kurian and programmer Krishna Raaj played a great role in making the end product a good one,” recalls Dr Sijil. The second video – a cover version of Hindi songs – is rendered by Selan, Rhea and Sandra. Next, they are planning to do their own compositions of music and lyrics. “Most of us are trained vocalists and instrumentalists. Among us are some exceptional talents who haven’t been formally trained at all. We want to tell the world that however busy one is, one can work hard and find time for everything one loves,” he says with a smile.
Do people consider performing doctors non-serious? “Earlier, we too had such an apprehension. But we love our jobs and music alike and take extra care to ensure nothing comes in the way of duty. Our patients too are at ease while conversing with us. The love and respect has increased. What I feel is music brings people closer as nervousness vanishes and they open up easily,” he says, adding that their families too are very encouraging.
Vaidya, as the name suggests, is aimed as a healing mechanism. “Our music is not the loud type. We want our songs to be enjoyable for the common man. That’s why our major focus is on Malayalam songs. Vaidya, for us, is not a commercial platform. Our plan is to do free performances at old age homes, orphanages and rehabilitation centres,” shares Dr Sijil, adding that the main hindrance is time. For recording the first song alone it took them five months. He adds, “We are doctors too. We can’t take leave just like that. A lot of lives depend on us. We are glad to contribute our part to the world’s happiness.” This must be why they call doctors the Gods on earth.