RANDOM THOUGHTS: “EXPERIENCE OR SCIENCE?”, “PLANTS LISTEN TO MUSIC?”,

RANDOM THOUGHTS: “EXPERIENCE OR SCIENCE?”, “PLANTS LISTEN TO MUSIC?”, “INDIAN SCIENTIST” AND “SIR JAGADISH CHANDRA BOSE.”

In my school days, I remember listening to songs from “Radio Ceylon” or “Bhivida Bharati” while doing Mathematics. My mother was not all that happy with my style of studying and every now and then she used to ask,” Are you studying or listening to music?” Well, in my childhood I was known for my all absorbing and gulping attitude. I shall go on listening to others and shall never react to, even provoked. But sometimes I used to answer my mother queries with a very low voice to defend my radio listening habit. “Well, I am listening to one sound i.e. music from radio instead of many unnecessary sounds.” But as usual she would complain but she never insisted that I should switch off the radio. Perhaps, internally she was convinced as I was that listening to radio is probably helping me more in concentrating studies.

Looking back I could only say,” yes, listening to music did help in my study.” Well, it is my experience and belief only. I am no scientist to prove it scientifically. But universally it is accepted that music does help. Perhaps there is no scientific method available to quantify that. But experience is the greatest teacher. If collective experiences say something is good then it must be good. Perhaps science has not matured or evolved enough to prove our experiences within acceptable parameters, methodologies, and norms of science. But let us not reject our experiences as a dogma or for that matter as a psychosomatic manifestation. If “it” works let us accept “it” works. Be sure, one day it shall be scientifically proved and you should not reject it or keep it aside till it is scientifically proved. But one word of caution here. Do not get carried away with “experiences” only. Your act resulting out of “experiences” shall act only as a complement to what has already been scientifically proved, not as a supplement or not as a substitute. In other words “experiences” and “science” shall go hand by hand, not against each other.

Persons like me who are from rural back ground would remember that in our childhood when we fall sick our Grand Papa or Grand Mom while taking us to nearest health centre or coming back from the health centre, would also pay a visit to the village priest. The priest would utter some semi audible and sacred hymn called MANTRA and move his hand over the body of the sick person while not touching it as if he is sweeping away the dirt. Sometimes the priest would touch only the forehead, back, palms, and feet of the sick person. I firmly believe the so called modern alternative methods of treatment called “PARANIC HEALING”, “REIKI” and so many of those tribes are the offshoot of Indian “Mantra Method” though it is claimed that “Reiki” had its origin at Japan and “Pranic Healing” is from Philippines.

Ok, coming back to my “Radio Ceylon” experience, I must confess that I a firm believer in productive and therapeutic value (See my blog on “Therapeutic value of Indian classical music”) of music. So when I heard and saw this news article in popular news channel of NDTV INDIA that a farmer in Indian state of Punjab has managed to improve the yield of the crop by broadcasting Indian classical music twice in a day in his cultivation field, I was but excited. See this video.

CLASSICAL MUSIC FOR CROPS.

Memory goes back again to my primary school days when I studied about Indian scientist Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose who way back in 1927 had scientifically proved that plants have nervous system. In his research in plant stimuli, he had shown with the help of his newly invented Crescograph that plants responded to various stimuli as if they had nervous systems like that of animals. He therefore found a parallelism between animal and plant tissues. His experiments showed that plants grow faster in pleasant music and its growth retards in noise or harsh sound.

Believe me my friend I studied about Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose in my fifth class literature book. Never in a science book. Till today it is never taught in science book. My son confirms that he too studied about Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose in his fifth class Hindi language book. There is no mention about Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose in his science book.

Alas, this is India and this is all about Indian. It is a crying shame and not a crowning glory that we are never taught about our scientists and their scientific discoveries. Who discovered Radio transmission system? I know answer will be univocal \u201cMarconi.\u201d Not, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose!!!

Many salutes to that Indian farmer of the state of Punjab. Thanks a lot that you have brought back the memory of SIR JAGADISH CHANDRA BOSE.