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.

Reshmi and Vinod Venugopal run the music band “Vires”

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.

Under the Samagratha banner, Vinod and Reshmi have organised three shows in Chennai, and identified 14 aspiring musicians which include those who are visually-challenged, autistic and with multiple disabilities. While a majority of the talent are from Chennai, the duo has also spotted aspiring musicians from Coimbatore, Calcutta and Pune.

Bringing aspiring musicians down to Chennai before a show poses logistic challenges and that includes cost management. “Parents have to invest in music training, upgrading their wardrobe and other tools each one requires depending on the type of disability. We insist that these singers be paid,” says Vinod.

The two spend time in identifying, training the talent and offering them a level-playing field at musical shows.

“Rehearsals are a must before a show so that they are on par with any other stage singer. We decide the upon the song based on their strength, fix the pitch of the song then make them practise over a couple of sessions before the show. The rehearsals are done with karaoke track,” says Vinod, a resident of Anna Nagar.

Besides ticketed shows, Samagratha has been trying to create awareness at local events such as weddings and private functions on why the differently-abled should be offered stage for performance.

Sapna’s father V. Soundarajan says more corporates should come forward to give differently abled musicians a chance. That would be a big push for such talent.

Music came naturally to Ashwath R, a 27-year-old on the spectrum with a post-graduate degree in Visual Communication. Thanks to Samagratha, he received a launch pad. “Music brings a lot of happiness to special needs children and they are really fast and good at grasping the nuances in every song. All that we want from the society is that these musicians be given equal opportunities,” says Sheeba Sojanar, Ashwath’s mother.