Access to live music the world over isn't a right and people don't always have the chance to connect with it, especially not if they live on a roadside in Mumbai. Last year I was lucky enough to be offered a three-month musician's residency in Mumbai at world class music venue blueFROG, funded by Creative Scotland and Live Music Now Scotland. I worked on blueFROG and Acorn Foundation's joint outreach program, Dharavi Rocks, which gives children from the slums of Dharavi access to making music.
Traveling around the city by train I had always seen the basket making homeless community at Mahim, and was somehow drawn to their precarious lives as I passed by between Bandra and Mahim station. Towards the end of my stay last year, I was introduced to Abhishek Bharadwaj who set upAlternative Realities, campaigning for homeless citizens' rights in the city. He invited me to come and play an informal concert for the homeless community that lives on the pavement around Mahim Station, and I jumped at the chance. On one of the busiest roads in Mumbai at rush hour, I played my violin for an ever-growing, curious and very excited audience. The reaction was incredible, much warmer than I expected it to be — there were children and adults dancing, singing, clapping along, begging me to play their favorite Bollywood songs one more time; it was hard to leave.
This year I returned and we arranged three concerts in one day with homeless communities in Mahim, Ghatkopar and Mankhurd. The warmth of these groups as they respond to the music was phenomenal. The twinkle in their eyes and their broad smiles hide the struggles these people go through every day. At the Mankhurd concert, one of the eldest men played a drum and sang beautifully, and everyone joined him, singing and clapping along. Then we played together and the audience was transfixed. We don't share a language, but there was so much musical communication between us. Afterwards, he took my hand and thanked me for the music with tears in his eyes. For me, it is an absolute pleasure to interact with these marginalized people. To be invited into their pavement homes, with the ground swept and a mat placed down so that I can sit and perform is an honor; I rarely feel this welcome when I go and perform in a world-class venue. Their access to the basics is so limited but their access to culture is suffering too and this is such an immense part of what makes us who we are. When people have access to live music perhaps they reconnect with their identity and it makes them not just people who sleep on the roadside but human beings with interests, culture, and a strong sense of placement in their community.
Laura Grime is a successful musician, music workshop facilitator and instrumental music teacher based in Scotland. Working both in the UK and internationally, her diverse practice encompasses performance and teaching alongside a varied career in participatory music work with children and young people. Laura also works with adults to facilitate skills development and builds capacity for music as a tool for professional and personal growth.
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