Utsav has been blind since birth. We met at the Early Rehabilitation Center Kathmandu, Nepal, where he expressed his deep desire to someday play music in a band. He said he learned guitar and sings songs but never had the opportunity to perform with others. “This is my biggest dream,” Utsav says.He spoke with such passion about that desire that I knew we must do something. So the good folks at PFCF’s Musica Music Institute learned some of his songs and on my final day here he joined the group to perform for the first time in a band.Let’s just say that he brought the house down. His nearly operatic voice boomed through the auditorium and as I looked at the crowd there was nothing but a collective shock and awe of beauty on the faces of the other students and guest visitors.
Every person in the room was deeply moved by what was transpiring right before their eyes. Before we took him onstage he was extremely nervous and expressed deep doubts about the whole idea, but as he performed it was as if he was possessed. Every nuance that came out of him had a power. I’ve been doing this work for many years but have rarely witnessed such a transformative and healing event with one young person.