RECENTLY I got an opportunity to teach Indian classical music in the Temple of Fine Arts at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

One of my students was a special needs child. His mother told me that when her son was born with his brain not fully developed.

She said: “We had no option but to accept the fact. But gradually realised that with music, his activities were enhanced.

“It was very clear that he responded to the music. With this we helped him understand other things as well and thus began his education through music.”

I was amazed to hear this.

The next day my teaching began with the young teenage boy and I was able to identify his spheres of under-development.

If I talked to him on topics other than music, he would bring me back to music and say ‘Shall we sing?’ I was really surprised to see his devotion towards music.

When I taught him a song, he did not remember the words but copied the tune immediately.

Obsessed by what I had seen and experienced, I came back home and started reading the history of Indian classical music.

The Hindu philosophy points to the continuous rhythm in nature.

The rain cycle, the cycle of seasons, the motion of the sun and the stars and the working of our own bodies.

As if they all are singing the praise of the creator – they all are doing ‘Sama Gaan’.

As if God is breathing life in the universe through music.

It is through the music, human consciousness can be awakened to a degree which allows one to understand the eternal essence of the universe and hence connect us to the Omnipresent.

Through the music and my teaching of that special needs child, I felt the presence of the Almighty.

All of us are bestowed with rare qualities, only thing is, we don’t identify them and somehow just get involved in our worldly life, too busy to note the very treasurers we hold inside us.

Anupama Tripathi, Hindu Guest from India (Vedic Organisation For Indian Culture and Education)