Sowing musical seeds of change

It was to break the notion that music is just a piece of entertainment, a group of enterprising youngsters conceptualised Manzil Mystics (MM), which since 2011 has been creating self-composed music to spread the message of peace and unity.

“It all started with three student-teachers (those who were students earlier and then became teachers) at NGO Manzil who wanted to create a space for talented musicians who otherwise don’t get opportunities to perform at a professional level. It was also to use music to spread the message of peace and unity. In 2011, Sanghparkash, Rashmi and I sat and called some of our musician friends to be a part of Manzil Mystics, which later became a choir group and not just a band with vocalists,” Anurag Hoon from the group tells Metrolife.

He adds that then Manzil Mystics, as a group, decided to break people’s opinion that “music is just a piece of entertainment and we can’t do anything other than entertaining people”.

Often reflecting real life situations and people’s perceptions through their music, the group draws inspiration from the likes of mystic poet Kabir, and Mahatma Gandhi. Their music is a fusion of Indian classical and folk tunes.

 “The group had started with 27 musicians, but we have 15 members (11 fixed and four in the process of becoming members). The only way to join MM is to show your commitment towards music and have faith in it. Members of MM come from different ethnic and economic backgrounds. We have a nurse, a social anthropologist, a chef, a marketer, a teacher, an engineer and many students who are doing their graduation and schooling – all representing themselves as fulltime musician,” Hoon says.

But, how successfully can a social message be conveyed through music? “We believe music is one of the best ways to sow the seeds of change in people. Also our project, Learning Through Music, has been using music to bring about change. We are currently running this project in six NGOs and a government school through which we teach how to sing, write and compose music.

We design our activities in a way that the participants also learn life skills. Through this workshop we have seen students who have increased their grades by 30 per cent. Also, by just singing meaningful songs at home, the musicians of MM have seen changes at their home,” Hoon explains.

He adds that it took the people of Delhi nearly five years to see that there are different things one can use music for, “but not everyone accepts it. It will take a long time actually to accept the music for change,” he says.

 Sharing that the band has previously performed across the city in various corporates, institutions like Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Kirori Mal College and even NGOs across India, Hoon says that MM has also been part of musical theatres and organised flash mobs.

“MM has organised two music mobs and is now planning to organise another one at the Nizamuddin Railway station. Also, this year we  have given a tune to our Preamble, making us the first band in India to do so. We are in process of making a video of this song and will launch it on November 26,” Hoon sums up.