Let the music play

That's exactly what a group of 50-something professionals do in their spare time for the underprivileged, without charging a rupee.

Most of us would spend our free time watching TV, catching a movie, listening to music or getting hooked to some sort of entertainment. Few would think of entertaining the underprivileged, and that too, when you are a working professional. This is precisely what a group of do-gooders have been doing for more than a decade. The group consists of 16 working men, who often play at various houses and charitable institutions for the sick and people with disabilities.

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Says Dr Victor Rodrigues, band member and dental surgeon by profession, “We are basically a group of fun-loving folks who have a passion for music. About ten years ago, I was invited to sing for a show at the St Andrew Auditorium in aid of The Kripa Foundation. I told by the organisers that I would sing, but only with my friends. That is how we started our stage journey. “

Comprising of engineers, teachers, advertising professionals, bankers and doctors, the band is titled Dr Victor And His Dentures, but there are other names too. Rodrigues says that it was their compere Shariar Atai who gave them the name. “We are often referred to as Dr Victor and Friends. Because of our sheer number, we also go by the name Dr Victor — Raised to The Power of Ten.”

The band regularly performs for the Kripa Foundation (St Andrew Auditorium), Navjeet Community Centre (Holy Family Hospital), Sankalp, St Anne’s School and Church, Bandra, Apostolic Carmel High School, Read My Lips for the hearing impaired and Mutes, Home for the Aged (Andheri), senior citizens of Bandra and at the Medical Ball.

Band members
Keith Suares (marine engineer), Ralph Pais (works for a newspaper), Dr Nikhil Cunha (Holy Family, Raheja Hospital), Douglas Misquita, Dalyn Misquita (telecom industry) Luis Chico, Benji Sequeira, Stephanie Petit, Raynah Braganza (music teachers), Dipak Shah (businessman), Beryl Pinto (housewife), Simone Patrick, Anisha Pereira (advertising professionals) LS Narayanswami (banker), Luis, Raynah and Stephanie (trained musicians).