Bengaluru doctor lives his dream by striking the right notes

BENGALURU: What does your perfect morning sound like? While it might seem tricky to capture the essence of what it feels like to open one’s window and bask in the glory of the morning sun, it took Dr Bharath Reddy just two weeks to compose an instrumental piano rendition that captures the feeling perfectly. Tentatively titled Sunlight/Sunshine, this isn’t the first original the medical director of Shishuka Children’s Speciality Hospital has composed. The 34-year-old paediatric pulmonologist wants to be able to play at concerts in Europe by the age of 45.

Just dreaming big is not enough for this doctor, who is seeking the guidance of a pianist from Russia in order to fine-tune his compositions and skills. While he has 11 years to make this dream a reality, the love for music goes far back, to when he was in school and was exposed to the instrument as part of the school choir. He went on to study all eight grades of music before he started studying medicine. 

Interestingly, though his parents are doctors themselves, they never wanted him to pursue the profession. “They didn’t want me to lead a life full of challenges like they did. But they knew I had made up my mind. They are more than happy to see me pursue different things, music included,” he says. While his piano playing took a setback during his medical education, music never completely left his life since he also played the violin from time to time and eventually got back to playing the piano again after he started working. “Pursuing medicine makes you grow much faster because of the things you witness. You realise that you need to do something more with your time,” he says. Besides playing the piano, Dr Reddy also conducts meditation classes for his friends, recently penned a book titled A Doctor’s Chronicles and is even considering starting a line of healthy baked goods for children.  

The doctor spends most of his time at the hospital, works pro bono at Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health and attends to several appointments at Sagar Hospitals and Cloudnine Hospital. Despite his packed schedule, he makes sure to devote at least an hour a day to playing the piano – 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes before going to sleep. “I recently got back from a trip to Kumbh Mela and I missed playing my piano so much. The first thing I did after setting my bag down was play something,” he shares. 
However, not all trips by the doctor are piano-less, since he managed to find, and play, a piano at the Dubai airport, in European airports and even on the streets of Portugal. This gave rise to another wish he hopes to fulfill soon – to be able to play the piano in public at Cubbon Park. 

Music, he says, helps improve his memory, stick to time and be as precise as possible, all traits which help him in his profession. “Sometimes, a medical career tends to desensitise you. Music on the other hand helps me stay in touch with me emotions,” he says.