Music lessons with a very interactive element are a rare opportunity for children in the Indian capital. Most of them come from low-income households and attend government schools, where education is free from ages 6-14. What’s missing from the curriculum, however, are subjects like sports, arts and music.
In the world’s most populous country, parents value maths or science, wanting their children to become doctors or engineers. That often means pressure. To challenge this perception, in 2017 Anurag Hoon and his peers founded an NGO where they use music to educate.
They teach in government schools and at their own facilities in South Delhi.
Reshma Arya’s classes have a special focus: female education.
In many Indian households it’s taboo to talk explicitly about anything related to sex and sexuality.
But the music helps, as student Sanya confirms: “Sometimes words are too heavy to express something and so it’s difficult to comprehend. But music has its own language.”