Varun Venkit is a man who wants to make a difference in the lives of people through music.
An enthusiastic drummer, performer, music therapist rolled into one, Varun has been attempting several things for championing the cause of music and its therapeutic effects. He is the founder of Taal Inc, an organisation that conducts drum circles for folk of different backgrounds, ages, cultures and levels of musicianship. It is a community activity, a stress buster, a behavioural intervention technique. an organization that conducts drum circles for various populations from different backgrounds across all ages, cultures, heritages and levels of musicianship. This is a community activity, a stress buster, a behavioural intervention technique… a healing practice.an organization that conducts drum circles for various populations from different backgrounds across all ages, cultures, heritages and levels of musicianship. This is a community activity, a stress buster, a behavioural intervention technique… a healing practice.
Varun who was “bitten by the ‘percussionists’ bug for as long as he can remember”, officially launched Taal Inc earlier this year though the concept had been conceived seven years ago. The drummer started his career as a part of band Agne for three years. Over the years, he has collaborated with stalwarts like Sivamani and Amit Kilam from Indian Ocean in drum circles all over the country.
The percussionist was initiated on the path of rhythmic awareness by his then mentor Zubin Balsara. Since then, this clinical psychologist has added many credentials to his list. He has a Percussionist and Drummer and Masters NLP Practitioner degree from NFNLP, USA under his belt. To add, he is also a grade 8 Drum Kit player; as certified by the Trinity College of Music, London. He has also been playing the Djembe for over five years and also been a student of Djembe grandmaster Mamady Keita having attended several of his workshops.
Talking about his brainchild Taal, Varun says, “The spirit of Taal Inc is to spread a very inclusive, active and experience based awareness of rhythm. Apart from its musical benefits, it also popularises therapeutic effects as well.” Apart from Djembe, the drumming enthusiast also plays the Dhol, the Conga, the Bongo, the Darbuka, the Tar, the Dafli, the Daf and many more percussion instruments. The Taal Inc Rhythm Ensemble is a 15 piece ensemble that plays traditional West African folk music.
Explaining about the conduction of the drumming circles, Varun adds, “A drum circle is a situation where a group of people come together for the purpose of drumming. It’s a session where you can enjoy drumming without having to be a professional drummer.” He has conducted workshops for various organisations including corporates from Nokia, Siemens, Tanishq, Titan, Bacardi, WNS, Panchashil, Ventura and Honeywell for recreation and therapeutic reasons. He has also conducted workshops for several schools, NGOs and special people groups. “Through drums circles, we involve participants in conducting games where their qualities like leadership, following, group strategy; positive functioning of a group etc comes out. It is done in a fun way and works as observational disguise learning.
During the drumming session, employees from different hierarchies come together. So this helps to break the ice amongst them. Informal setting yet formal and effective learning is what happens. So, drumming as a medium helps people come together and explore their skills and build confidence,” he explains.
Elucidating how the therapeutic effect works, he explains, “A facilitator in the centre of the circle usually is the one who draws the invisible energy graph for the circle; complete from a calm, trance inducing level to a loud cathartic high. A facilitator is not a conductor; he is only a catalyst in the group activity of drumming. As an organisation, Taal Inc aims to positively influence the areas of health and well being through rhythm and music. As a natural byproduct, Taal does three things – conducting drum circles for different populations, is a school of rhythm and a rhythm ensemble.”
Determined to help people with music and drumming, Varun is currently also pursuing independent research papers examining the effects of drum circles on stress reduction and relaxation with various populations. “Regular periods of drumming is said to have beneficial effects on ones physiological, mental and emotional orientation. We at Taal Inc. are also trying to add a fair deal of research towards the benefits of drumming on health. Some of our most recent findings include that drumming fosters team building and group cohesiveness, enhances relaxation and reduces stress, increases attention and concentration, produces the feeling of motivation and confidence and also increases self awareness.”