Yesudas effect

Everybody thinks of Mozart effect when they hear about Music therapy .They have read about it in internet and therefore are familiar with that term. But what is Mozart effect and how did that term come to stay? Tomatis, a Medical professional tried Mozart in autistic spectrum disorders and found that the children show better response than to other types of western musical forms. And the method is called Tomatis method and the effect as Mozart effect .The greatest blame on this method and effect has been that it does not help develop or improve language in autistic children.
Probably the reason for this is the lack of vocal part in the music he used.

My method is Yesudas effect .It is vocal music based on Indian Ragas I use for my patients/aquaintances/friends/myself.. And it is a whole range of healthy and unhealthy people of extremes of age groups and adults, of both sexes and of at least four different languages affected over four decades that I have at my disposal for demonstration/proof of Yesudas effect . And ,the effect of music is not just for curing an illness ,but for a self healing process of the entire society ,and for being at peace with oneself and the world-the internal and external miliue-the biofield and cosmic field of energy that Indian classical Raaga music is devised. And I use it in such a way .I don’t know whether this can be called Suvarna’s method just as Mozart effect is called Tomatis method who did research and therapy with Mozart effect (If we adopt modern medicine standards.) But ,though I propagate the method ,it had been there for millennia used by our ancestors ,and I know that it cannot be called either my method or Yesudas effect but it is the effect of music ,of raga,of swara rendered in a specific way and utilized in a specific way. That is the Indian way of discoveries and practices in Sruthi.And music is always Sruthi.

What I did and how this started is important because it gives an idea of my method and its evolution over four decades that is ever since Yesudas started his singing career. I have been a born music lover from age 3 as far as I can remember and my first listenings were of M.S.Subbalakshmy,Chembai VaidyanathaBhagavathar, that proceeded to P.Suseela, Latha Mangeshkar and Mohammad Raffi ,not to speak of P.B.Sreenivas,A,M.Raja ,and other stalwarts of the time. .The experiments with music started on me and my study patterns (on concentration, memory) and then on the children (normal) of my own family like my brother, and kids who were given in my care by my cousins and sisters to put to sleep with lullabies. Then when I became a medical student and knew something about the peculiarities of human ear and of acoustics, and the physiology of nervous system I could understand some reasons for the effects of music on me and on children and adults .This became a real research protocol when my son was born and I studied it systematically.

Why people hear music?
The purpose of music listening is many and it is subjective.
1. Timepass
2. use as a background music while doing household chores
3. Hobby
4. Relaxation
5. Professional musicians critically hear to learn and improve
6. Out of genuine love for music.
7. as a research

In my case it started as a music Rasika (music lover) by birth and then evolved as a research due to my inherent nature of questioning and search for truth, and then as a medical professional and a medical teacher and researcher it evolved as a system of music therapy .When you are a doctor naturally the effects of music on physiology and anatomy and neuropsychoimmunology etc will be thought of and understood and experimented with. All these in a teaching profession made me think of a curriculum and syllabus and research protocols for study and treatment and this evolved through my method of Yesudas effect.

I have given these details in four of my books on music.

1. Music therapy for administration, management and education.Readworthy publications
2. Ragachikitsa.Readworthy publications New Delhi.
3. Naadalayasindhu (Raagachikitsaamritham) D C Books Kottayam
4. without a stumble. A book on spirituality of music .Nalapat books

What is important with Yesudas that helped my research protocol: _

One is the range of music he has produced.
Second is the range of languages in which they are produced so that I can do a national level protocol.
Third is that he has popular music, devotional music (in all religions), nonfilm light music and classical Hindustani as well as Karnatic music for use in any range of population speaking any Indian languages .Among the popular music itself I could find people with a range of interests like Romantic, philosophical, poetical, humourous, children songs and devotionals and all these ranges from Yesudas alone. And for autistic children the use of Yesudas music has been of use to language recognition and improving language and communication skills most of the case histories from parents themselves.
The research on Yesudas’ classical music and live kutcheris evolved out of these preliminary studies and free association surveys over several decades. The prospective research on kutcheris started in 1998 (since 12 years) and I have listened to 150 and odd live kutcheris of just this one singer for the sake of a research project on his music in these 12 years. I have a collection of many other stalwarts in classical music on several ragas along with that of Yesudas for this purpose. The reason for hearing live kutcheris of a single musician as many times as possible is that it is essential for any researcher who wants to know about the many aspects of music and certain nuances of a kutchery which one learns not from books .For a person who spent time for time pass or for hearing music as a hobby and relaxation this may not be necessary. But for a researcher who uses the vocal music of a single person and do research on its effect on health of individuals and on society this is mandatory. To follow a musician’s music is to follow his kutcherys and his recorded music as far as possible and have a rapport with him .An almost similar protocol was done on sufi music(khawali) of India and Pakistan by Regula Berkhardt as explained in her book “Sufi music of India and Pakistan”.


The journey started first by understanding how my habit of hearing music for five minutes and then studying for 15 minutes and repeating the cycles regularly helped me to concentrate more and memorise more and what type of music helped me to do so.Later on I understood that the method is actually giving me five minutes alpha waves and then allow my brain to be more receptive again to what I learn in next 15 minutes when my beta waves work .
The use of 72 melakartharaaga for therapy, I base on its mathematical, astrophysical, musical, sine cosine wave functions and also on the philosophy of ayurveda, and yoga in Indian way of life. Thus it is an integration of several sciences and arts. It depends on sine wave and harmonics which is common to music, biocycles like cardiac cycles (which is also 72/mt incidentally) and astronomical cycles. The Doppler effect as described by Sankaracharya and the other scientist/philosophers before him in India had helped them to develop the harmonics of sine waves of music to control sine waves of blood circulation and to develop Naadalayayoga.To prove this a pilot project was done at Amrita hospital and it was successful statistically .
Hence my method use the principles of medicine like:
1. Doppler effect in cardiovascular system flow
2. Principle of EEG in transforming beta waves to alpha waves or meditational waves
3. All stress and strains and tensions of life-professional, domestic and others- cause several disorders which are somatic. All these can be treated and prevented by music which reduce stress and strain
4. Psychoneuroimmunology
5. Immunological parameters
6. Both prevention and cure of disorders
7. At extremes of life and in people with and without mental retardation and with or without memory loss one can use music but the principles of use is different in each
8. In narrative medicine and family medicine
9. In cancer and heart disease and also obstetrics and gynecology
10. in surgical wards
11. in traumatic head injury and coma
12. in educational institutions
13. in professional life
14 In integration of all branches of medicine for proper healthcare of society
15. for world peace
16. in therapy for rapport
17. I think that this can also be used in agriculture for better food production and in animal husbandry since music has no boundaries between anything and anyone. I haven’t done research in that field but assume that it is possible and if anyone from these fields can start a programme of research it would be good.

It is not just an adjunct therapy but a golden thread which integrates all branches of sciences and arts, especially for integration of all branches of medical care
Thus the use is from lullaby to deathbed and the method is cost-effective and without side effects if used judiciously

I understand that God had made me an eternal music lover by birth, and a medical teacher by profession, just for doing good for society, for humanity and for the discipline of music therapy so that I am made to develop this method for education, health and integrated approach for all sciences and arts for peace of individuals, society, nation and the world. In that research protocol of God, my birth at a time when Yesudas lived and sang was probably inevitable.