Music is medicine for Kavita

SHE has a healing touch and can charm you with her soothing, outstanding voice. Kavita Bissoon has a flair for performing and she keeps her audience totally entertained. The 19-year-old breezes through the most difficult ragas (notes) in the popular Bollywood tunes whenever she performs with the Khazana Orchestra. Over the last two years, she has become  one of the top performers with the band, led by her uncle Lakshman Bissoon. Of her preference for songs of yesteryear she says: “More and more people are taking to the Bollywood tunes which were produced in the ’70s and ’80s. These songs are always in demand and I have chosen the best of Lata Mangeshkar for the stage.”

Kavita voiced her disgust with the remixed tunes that are now the fancy of the top local artistes: “I believe that these old film songs that now carry heavy soca rhythm are not what they should be. Imagine you are talking about the influence of God in someone’s life and you have a real dance rhythm for that, and people wining down the place. It just does not make sense. The artistes must compose the kind of lyrics that will go with that kind of rhythm.” Having completed Advance Level examinations last month, Kavita of Lackpat Road in El Dorado, has applied to study pharmaceuticals at Mt Hope. She also hopes to one day be able to produce a cure for common ailments and other health problems. Since childhood, she has been fascinated by medicine and health science. She makes “case study” of her family in instances where medicine is recommended for the common ailments such as the cold, fever, headaches etc. “This is certainly an interesting field. There are so many ailments that are plaguing mankind and there is a wide range of medicine and medical process used in curing the sick. I want to research and develop cures for people,” she admits.

She spends most of her spare time reading and collecting material on pharmaceuticals and she is also fascinated by the scent of plants and their healing powers. While some may say the singer/pharmacist has an unusual choice in career combinations, Kavita believes that one should balance off life by getting involved in culture. “When you are involved in studying long hours, it takes a lot out of you and the arts help you to relax. Then you are able to bounce back quickly,” she said. Parents Krishendath and Chandra Bissoon have both been very supportive of Kavita. “My parents are always around monitoring the practice sessions and encouraging me to study hard. Their philosophy is, ‘Success comes to those who work for it.’ I credit my success to them both,” she said.

Her mother’s constant vigilance keeps her “walking a straight road.” “I could get involved in idle gossip with my friends in the neighbourhood, but my mother just will not allow me to be out liming,” she said laughing. Talking about the rise in crime in TT, she noted that many of the young people today choose to live in the “fast lane” and put education and good character second. She advised the youths of today to stick to culture or sports and to study hard in order to gain people’s respect. Kavita, who has an interest in East Indian fashions, plans to compile her songs on a CD for lovers of traditional Indian songs.