By Maitreyeee Boruah
Bangalore, Oct 12 (IANS) They are gifted and they are about to sing for the flood victims of Karnataka. Eight musicians and six singers, who are part of a band and are all visually impaired, say one doesn't need sight to see human agony.
The Indian Disabled League (IDL) Blind Band will perform at various places to raise money for the flood victims. It is a part of the IDL Foundation, a Bangalore-based voluntary organisation.
For band members such as Sreedhar, Pasha, Nagina, Narsing and Samuel Manohar, singing for the cause of flood victims would bring "special moments to cherish".
"We don't have much money, but we have talent and time through which we would like to raise funds to help those in need," guitarist Manohar said.
"Our hearts go out for the victims of floods. The money earned from all our forthcoming performances will be donated to bring some smiles on the faces of flood victims," he added.
The band plans to perform in 15 private functions during the festive season. Most of these will be in Bangalore and two-three in Mysore. The special musical troupe has over 300 songs and 150 stage shows to its credit till date.
The group members play the guitar, keyboard, rhythm pad, flute, tabla, triple congo and bongo, with six singers who know more than 250 songs in different languages.
"Under our 'perform and pay' project, the band will donate money earned from its various performances, which includes those at private functions, for victims," P.K. Paul, founder of IDL Foundation, told IANS.
"The band members might be visually impaired, but they are no less than others. All the members are gifted people and are great musicians. They too want to contribute at a time when the entire state is mourning the devastation caused by floods," said Paul.
The performances by the musical troupe will be mostly confined to private parties, including weddings and birthday bashes.
"We don't have sponsors to support music concerts for us. Since the band mostly performs at private parties as part of their work, the money raised from these performances will be donated for the flood victims," said Paul.
According to members of the band, they don't need "sight" to see the agony and suffering that north Karnataka has had to bear in the aftermath of devastating floods.
Rain and subsequent flash floods hit 18 of the state's 29 districts Sep 30, the north Karnataka districts of Raichur, Bijapur, Bellary, Bagalkot, Koppal and Gulbarga facing the brunt.
Besides killing 222 people, the fury damaged, partially or fully, around 360,000 houses, leaving more than a million without shelters.
The Foundation aims at holistic development of people with physical disabilities, with an emphasis on visually challenged people, is focussed to create equal opportunity and to integrate the special people into mainstream, to live a normal life with the use of technology and scientific devises, including aids and appliances.
So far the foundation has helped 15,000 visually challenged people in Karnataka. The foundation has a target of helping 100,000 visually challenged people in the state in five years.