Samagratha: A voice for differently abled singers

Musicians with disabilities do not find themselves on a level-playing field. Singers Vinod Venugopal and Reshmi have launched Samagratha, a platform that provides these musicians with opportunities that might not otherwise come their way

Over the last seven years, Sapna Soundarajan (now 25 years old) has shared the stage with acclaimed playback singers such as Late S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, K.S. Chithra, S.P. B. Charan and Unni Menon. That would make any singer’s portfolio look hugely impressive. It is even more admirable when one considers the fact that Sapna is on the spectrum.

Sapna is a multi-lingual singer and knows 3500 songs. However, she struggles to find opportunities that would fetch her monetary benefit. Samagratha offers a ray of hope to Sapna and others like her.

Chennai-based accomplished singers Vinod Venugopal and Reshmi have been running Samagratha, an inclusive music platform, since 2023 to showcase the talent of differently abled singers along with the best of musicians from the industry.

The seeds of Samagratha were sown during the pandemic when the two “VIRES” (the name of their band) were involved in raising funds for light music performers whose income was affected on account of the pandemic.

“We used to judge various events and one particular event had the differently-abled also participating in it. We saw amazing talent there and wondered what can be done to ensure these budding musicians have sustained income,” says Vinod, who along with Reshmi are jury members for Zee Tamil SaReGaMaPa show.

Vinod says inclusion efforts aimed at helping differently abled musicians should cover more ground than just offering a visually challenged singer an opportunity to perform on stage or including an autistic musician in an orchestra. The efforts should be deeper, he adds.

Samagratha has been working to create livelihood opportunities for the differently-abled through music, give them a launch pad to sing along with playback and celebrity singers and also perform with top instrumentalists.