All Aboard the Mewsic Bus!

ALL ABOARD THE MEWSIC BUS…

The children of Azadpur slum in the far north west of Delhi are not regulars at school.  In fact they spend their days rag picking, begging, doing odd jobs and playing gully cricket. Opportunities for learning are few and far between, beyond the lessons of life that they receive on a daily basis.

But all that is about to change. Mewsic India Foundation in partnership with Deepalaya (Delhi’s largest Education NGO) will soon be rolling into town (literally) to bring Music and Education into the lives of these kids, in a fun and interactive way.

Welcome to the Mewsic Bus – a unique and innovative program with an aim to deliver non formal education (numeracy and literacy), through the medium of Music!  This mobile classroom is fully decked out with books, instruments and learning aids and stops in 6 different communities to deliver a daily dose of music and learning.

‘The bus is designed to act as a bridge – getting kids out of work and into school.’ Said Mr Matthew, CEO of Deepalaya.  ‘The non formal education gives them a taste of learning and provides them with the literacy and numeracy basics, the music engages and attracts them to come regularly to the bus. It is a perfect marriage.’ He said.

As part of the program a combination of classes are taught both inside and outside the bus. Musical games, songs and tuitions are provided on one hand, and more formal classes are provided in tandem – catering to different learning styles, different levels of learning and ensuring that children remain engaged in the program.  The long term objective is that each child is mainstreamed into school.

‘We’ve designed an innovative curriculum using a combination of teachers and musicians, to underpin the program and ensure that lessons meet curriculum guidelines, and are also relevant in terms of musicality, song choice and age group,’ said Emily Harrison, CEO Mewsic India Foundation.  ‘The music making ensures kids have fun whilst learning – in fact they don’t even know they are learning because they are enjoying themselves so much.  This is a giant leap away from the traditional rote learning system present in so many schools.’

The Mewsic Bus is a flagship initiative of Mewsic India Foundation, established by Australian Fast Bowler Brett Lee, and will hit the streets of Delhi in March 2013 and Jaipur in June 2013. 

Tanya's Reflections on Music Therapy at St. Jude's Child Care Centre

Tanya Silveira, a Masters student of Music Therapy from the University of Melbourne, recently interned with Mewsic to help design a new program, Music Therapy in Hospitals, which will soon be launched at St. Jude's Childcare Centres in Mumbai. Today, Tanya shares her reflections on the experience with using music as a tool to help cancer affected children.

  

Since I was about 15 years old, the idea of using music as a tool to help people has really fascinated me. About 6 months ago, I started looking into different Music Therapy techniques and practises across the World. I soon stumbled upon Mewsic - a Brett Lee Foundation, and started sending through some emails, asking if I could potentially volunteer. Because I am originally from India, Mewsic seemed like the perfect foundation to combine both my culture and my passion for Music Therapy.

As this was not my first visit to Mumbai, it felt like home from the moment I landed. The only thing that I was nervous about was the fact that I was still a student rather than an expert. My first day at Mewsic was fantastic – everyone was so welcoming and as excited as I was. I loved the communal aspect of the office environment as well as the warmth of each of my colleagues from day one.

My contribution to Mewsic was to assist with the development of an exciting new program 'Music Therapy in Hospitals'. Each week, I spent time working with the team to devise an Operations Manual about the program to come, devising meaningful tools of assessment as well as devising a schedule for Music Therapy sessions. Along with this, I would spend 3 half-days (per week) at St. Jude’s Child Care Centre conducting both group and individual Music Therapy sessions with the children. Children were based at this centre as a result of their diagnoses of cancer – This centre accommodated children (and their parents) while they were undergoing various treatments at the nearby hospitals. Using music, our sessions were centred on distraction from pain, nausea and anxiety, promotion of emotional expression, regaining of physical strength and expansion of the English vocabulary. Using instrument playing, drumming, song writing and singing, I was able to engage the children through music in order to achieve these goals as much as possible. 

Before I left for this experience, a close friend of mine had thought that the nature of this work would cause me to grow as a person – Looking back, I can’t believe how right she was. This opportunity has really shaped me. I have gained a greater sense of confidence in myself and in my ability. I have learnt to value my cultural heritage to an even greater extent. And I have realised just how powerful Music Therapy is to the physical and psychological states of these beautiful children. Even though time spent with the children at St. Jude's stirred up some strong emotions at times, these children showed me that there is more to life than worrying about the days to come – they made me realise that even though they have this life-threatening diagnosis, at the end of the day, they are still children and do things that all children do – whether it be trying to take my guitar, giving me big hugs and lots of kisses or even just laughing at my “funny” Australian accent!

I’m grateful for this experience with Mewsic and have returned even more excited to graduate from my Masters so that I can go back to Mumbai to work for a longer period of time.

 

Mewsic Centre Students at Sa Re Ga Ma Pa

Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1nbKUmotTM

Children from Mewsic’s Dharavi, Govandi and Mankhurd Music Centres were thrilled to be invited as special guests for the highly acclaimed and popular TV show, SaReGaMaPa last month. As part of the live studio audience for the filming of the show, the Mewsic kids experienced first-hand the talent of the show’s contestants, musicians and judges, providing them with real inspiration to pursue their music lessons and practices.

The youth singing talent show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is India's only credible music reality show that presents superlative young talent who have gone on to make a mark in the music industry. The mentors are music director duo, Sajid & Wajid, bassist- lead vocalist of the band Indian Ocean, Rahul Ram and music composer and singer, Shankar Mahadevan.

A performance by Shankar Mahadevan wowed the audience and special guests for the show were Marathi film musicians and composers ‘Ajay & Atul’ who also performed. In the opening minutes of the show, Host Javed Ali made reference to the children from Mewsic and the Foundation by Brett Lee – welcoming them on the show. He himself is a renowned singer and today is revered as one of the best playback singers in the Bollywood film industry.

Mewsic hopes to continue its relationship with Saregamapa and Zee TV and further promote the work of Mewsic and inspire its kids through association with the show.

Mewsic Advisor - Lesle Lewis

Mewsic is very privileged to have Lesle Lewis, a stalwart of the Indian Music scene, as one of its Advisory Board. “This is a great opportunity for me to give something back and play a role in introducing music into the lives of disadvantaged kids who can really benefit from the power of music.” He said.

Popularly known as ‘Lezz’ in the industry, Lesle Lewis is one of the very first Indian composers to have introduced the Indian audiences to rock and pop music. Lesle’s creative side comes as an inherited value from his father, P L Raj, noted choreographer from the film industry. He is renowned as half the duo ‘Colonial Cousins’ and has been instrumental in forging new genres of music in India, including fusion. He was also the recent Musical Director for India’s first ‘Coke Studio’.

As a child, Lesle was greatly influenced by the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton and with futher working on his musical capabilities bagged the opportunity of recording with renowned music directors such as Kalyanji Anandji, Laxmikant Pyarelal, R. D. Burman, Viju Shah, Vanraj Bhatia, Khayam, Anu Malik and Louis Banks.

By giving audiences a taste of varied music flavours, Lesle has been successful in keeping his originality intact with advertisement jingles, film music and other forms of modern music.

Lesle advises Mewsic on all things related to ‘music’ and plays a valuable role in connecting the Foundation to the music industry in India.