An Evening of Music – A Survivor Activity

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HOUSTON: IACAN strives to connect and support the cancer patients, cancer survivors and their care givers. Towards this goal, IACAN organizes periodic social activities that include among others fine arts, yoga, and gardening. These activities are envisioned to offer physical, emotional and religious support. Furthermore, IACAN believes that these activities assist in building a sense of community with opportunities to socialize and engage in sharing experiences among the peer groups. IACAN takes every step to make them feel at home, to know that they are not alone in their journey, and that they can count on IACAN in their time of needs.

One such survivor activity – “An Evening of Music” was held at the Bhojan Restaurant on Saturday, June 24th, 2017.

Many large cancer centers around the country use music as a key therapeutic tool. Music therapy is known to help patients cope with negative emotions, promote wellness, enhance memory and manage stress. Especially in cancer patients, when used with conventional treatments, Music therapy has been recognized to help reduce pain and discomfort to increase the quality of life. Other benefits from music therapy, according to scientific studies, include improvements in motor skills and social skills.

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The musicians, Mrs. Soumya Rege and Mr. Ravi Mukkamala enlightened the audience with their melodious voices while the instrumentalists, Mrs. Vimala Ahobila, and Mrs. Vasantha Narumanchi on veena accompanied by Naga Srinidhi Kuruvada on Mridangam, took the audience to a new level of enjoyment.

Soumya started the program with a devotional bhajan and the evening proceeded with Hindi golden oldies songs. Her selections were melodious and romantic. The audiences were transported back to those good old days enthralled with nostalgia. Her choice of songs were special and the audience felt a sense of intimacy. The dancing by two of the audiences was the icing on the cake. Thank you Soumya for a wonderful performance and thank you Kanchan and Gaytri for bringing it all together.

Hats off to Mrs. Vasantha Narumanchi and Mrs. Vimala Ahobila for their fantastic veena performance. The classical instrumental music touched the soul and was a pleasurable experience. The ambiance changed into a peaceful and soothing one. Naga Srinidhi Kuruvada, the budding Mridangam player wowed the audience by keeping up with such seasoned veena players. Good luck to him and look forward to having him perform at our future events.

The last but not the least performance was by singer Ravi Mukkamala. He sang retro songs that we always had in our memories. His voice was strong and lovely and the audience were completely mesmerized with his songs. His last number, a Telugu song from movie Sivaranjani was the most appropriate one to end such a beautiful evening.

No one wanted the music program to end but it was time for dinner. The food was sumptuous and everyone enjoyed the food and the company of friends.

Cancer is an involved disease. Survivors are courageous people who have overcome the obstacles and have beaten the odds. They go through the rigors of conventional medicine such as chemo, radiation, surgery etc. Social activities such as this music program have scientific rationale to offer therapeutic benefits in terms of easing the anxiety, stress, fatigue, insomnia and relief form a whole battery of side effects. Through these planned activities, IACAN is happy to bring a little relief to our friends. Hope to see you all at our next event.

Contact Information for IACAN:
www.iacannetwork.org
iacannetwork@mail.com
Phone: 713 370 3489