Pandemic gloom: Visva-Bharati begins music therapy, not many tuning in

Anyone in the world could log in to these sessions. Poor attendance could be due to lack of awareness, says official

To help staff and students cope with the gloom generated by the pandemic, Visva-Bharati has started daily music therapy sessions, a move ridiculed by detractors of the administration. It’s not even a month since these online sessions started — daily for an hour, at 4 P.M., except on Sundays — and the university is already complaining of poor attendance. Many, in fact, were not even aware of the initiative until the university issued a circular on Tuesday, complaining of the poor response and urging staff and students to log in. “Unfortunately, the number of attendees is declining fast, day-by-day. Under these circumstances, this is an earnest request to colleagues [teaching and non-teaching] and our students to join these sessions, because these form part of Visva-Bharati’s tribute to Gurudev [founder Rabindranath Tagore]. It is hoped that our colleagues and students will attend the regular music therapy sessions to carry forward the rich and deep Rabindrik [Tagorean] tradition,” the notice said.