The Power of Music

Almost two months ago my father suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). It was touch and go for quite a while but he always managed to stop himself from crossing the border into a much more difficult space; for him and for us. And now he’s back home.

Part of his rehabilitation is listening to music. While it is done to create a more congenial and less of a hospital-like environment at home, the ways it helps is manifold. In TBIs, being able to process different auditory stimuli and respond to it helps improve neuroplasticity while improving mood and enhancing cognitive processes.

Now I don’t know the science behind it barring what the books and internet tell me but this morning when my father was listening to his curated playlist of old Bollywood songs, he positively perked up while listening to the songs from the movie Padosan. And when Ek Chatur Naar played, he was tapping his fingers and toes and seemed to come out of the funk that often surrounds him these days.

And to me that’s nothing short of magic. He is possibly getting caught up with the beats, the melody or even the nostalgia the songs evoke but that’s helping him navigate an unimagineably difficult time and one which is filled up quite a bit of uncertainties. With brain injuries the toughest thing to do is wait and watch for things to play out and unfortunately that is the only way forward; with or without the help of medicines.

So while we wait for those glorious days of recovery to happen, we will groove along with Kishore Kumar, Mehmood and Manna Dey and let their ability to heal work its magic on all of us.