As Rishabh Kaushik sings, the cymatic plate generate interesting patterns to help people with impaired hearing understand the nuances better.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
SciArtsRus, a non-profit organisation, supporting the differently-abled and cross-cultural artistes, returns with its sixth edition of Margazhi Matram festival, to be inaugurated on December 7, 3 p.m., at Mylapore Fine Arts Club. It will present a one-of-its-kind concert, ‘Cymatic Carnatic — See the sound of music’, which blends technology with music.
Ranjini Kaushik, founder of SciArtsRus says, “During my quest for assistive tools for the disabled, I stumbled upon cymatics — the science of visualising sound through vibrations. With this technology, people with varying levels of hearing, will be able to appreciate music. My son, Rishabh Kaushik, has worked with musicians with disabilities in his Carnatic vocal and keyboard concerts. He decided to include cymatic in his concert, which will be held on December 26.” He will be supported by violinist Madan Mohan and mridangist H.S. Sudhindhra and visually-impaired morsing artiste Nerkunam Manigandan.
Rishabh, explains, “ As I sing, the plate will vibrate, moving the sand to form patterns in response to the speed and pitch of my singing, blended with melodic frequency and rhythmic beats.“
Ranjini states they have collected cymatic data to map the 72 melakartas and understand the role of gamakas in this technology. Ranjini and Rishabh will present this work to the National Centre for Assistive Health Technology at the IIT Madras Research Park.
The festival opens with ‘Mouna Ragam – Sounds of Silence’ by bringing together the hearing-impaired community, in collaboration with Clarke School for the Deaf and rasikas to perform a sign-language sing-along choir. Those interested can register for this sing along session by December 3.
The evening will also include Bhartiya-One World Choir, led by Archana Sridharan and Rajeshwari Harish, and ‘Into the Light’, a collaboration between pianist Anil Srinivasan’s Rhapsody Kids and children from Clarke School for the Deaf.
The team has also curated thematic, inclusive concerts featuring 200 talented artistes of all abilities in the last week of December. For details WhatsApp 1-310-892-0794. Insta handle : @sciartsrus
Performances as part of the sixth edition of Margazhi Matram will be held from December 24 to 28 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Mini hall.
Published – November 26, 2025 04:25 pm IST
