The Coimbatore Institute of Technology Alumni
Association, Chennai Chapter (CITAACC) Music Club organised a 2-hour musical program
at the Rehoboth Home for the Mentally Challenged on 15th November,
2025. Around 80 inmates attended the program, danced with joy, and enjoyed the
songs. This program was initiated by CITAACC Zone 3 அழகிய
Ambattur, as their 4th Social Service Project.
The CIT music team included Margabandhu, Guru, T.N. Krishnamoorthy,
Hari, Velmurugan, and Dillibabu. The female singers were Malathi and Anitha,
both from the nineties Anna University music troupe. Vaithilingam of
Vaanampaadi provided excellent audio support and also sang. Malathi’s brother
Harikrishnan, beautifully whistled the song Raja Raja Chozhan Naan. Sathya Prabhu helped with social media and prepared posters.
Before the program, Margabandhu crowdfunded on
Whatsapp and collected close to 1.2 lakhs from around 50 donors. This amount
was used to donate cots, wheelchairs, plastic armchairs, washing soaps,
clothes, and many other things requested by the Rehoboth Home.
The songs included peppy numbers like Ranjithame Ranjithame, Nee Pottu Vacha Thangakudam, and Maana Madurai Kundu Maliya. There were also some yesteryears hit songs like Bambarakannaale, Maama Maama Maama, and Thuluvatho ilamai. The inmates requested 2 songs on the spot – Enna Nenache, and Aaatama Therottama – which the singers delivered. The singers also danced enthusiastically and shared their joy.
The Rehoboth Home for the Mentally Challenged is an
NGO founded in 1998 by psychiatric social worker Zoraida Samuel. When Zoraida
was a college student, she saw police and people beating a mentally challenged
woman who had stolen a fruit from a cart. This incident affected her deeply,
and she wanted to help such women in distress. Today, the Rehoboth rescue
shelter at Paraniputhur, Iyyapathanagal, Chennai has 195 mentally challenged
women. At the Rehabilitation Centre in Somangalam, 85 women are engaged in agriculture,
animal husbandry, poultry, piggery, ornamental bird rearing, ornamental fish
rearing, areca plate production, and embroidery. They also have 2 special
schools for children, a thrift store, and an old-age hospice. Around 153 women
have rejoined their families after being taken care of at Rehoboth.
It was a privilege and blessing to perform at Rehoboth
Home, and it gave mutual happiness to both the singers and inmates.
Anyone interested in supporting Rehoboth Home, contact
Pioneer
Suresh has conducted 6500 live orchestra shows worldwide and has worked with
stalwarts like Shri. Dr. K.J.Yesudas, Ms. K.S.Chithra, and Ms. Vani Jairam. Pioneer Suresh has been in the music industry for more than 30 years. He is a
professional drummer and also sings occasionally. Let us hear from him about
his Pioneer Music Gym – a gym to sing and exercise your musical vocal cords
with like-minded music friends.
Pioneer Music Gym Founder - Pioneer Suresh
How did you get the idea to start the Pioneer
Music Gym?
Many
times, we have gone abroad for music shows. Usually, after the shows, there is
a night party. During these parties, I have seen many doctors, entrepreneurs,
and chartered accountants sing very well. Seeing such very good amateur singers, I thought of bringing out such talent to the world. So, I
did the research for a few years and later conceived the idea of the Pioneer
Music Gym. We started the Pioneer Music Gym (PMG) in 2016 at the Sun Plaza in
T. Nagar, Chennai. Singer Vani Jairam inaugurated it.
At PMG, non-professionals who are good singers gather every week.
They sing songs with karaoke music. The singing is also recorded and uploaded
on YouTube.
A karaoke session in progress at PMG
How do singers become members of your gym and
sing?
Singers
have to attend an audition. Once they are selected, they have to pay a monthly
subscription. They are organized into teams named Harmony, Symphony, Euphony, Rhapsody, and Bollywood. The teams perform for a 3-hour slot each fixed on
either Thursdays ( 5-8 pm), Fridays (5-8 pm) , or Sundays (10 am - 1 pm, 2-5 pm, 5-8 pm).
The
singers in one team become a part of a Whatsapp group. There they discuss the
songs they will sing as solo or duet with others. We
have a database of close to 4000 karaoke mp3 songs and their lyrics. Singers
can also send karaoke versions of songs that are not in the database. In the karaoke, the BGMs are trimmed without disturbing the singing part. This is to ensure
that the fast tempo is maintained and everyone gets a chance to sing all their
songs.
A music session at PMG, Sun Plaza.
What are the
basic facilities you have at the music gym?
We have a
professional audio mixer, a 50 inches TV, 1000 watts speakers, internationally
branded microphones, and disco lights. The karaoke lyrics are displayed on the big
TV screen and the singers can look at them and sing. We hired a professional
sound engineer to do the acoustics of the gym for the best sound effects. The
beautiful wallpapers have images of Ilaiyaraaja, MS Viswanathan, and other
singers and musical instruments.
Why did you
name it a gym?
At the music gym,
we do workouts on vocal cords by changing the pitch and tempo of the tracks. Our
logo also shows headphones like a gym barbell and has a mouthpiece of a headset
microphone.
PMG Logo
What type of members is in the
Pioneer Music Gym?
We have all categories of singers. We have Bankers, CEOs,
CFOs, entrepreneurs, housewives, and school and
college students. We also have husband and wife, mother and daughter, and
father and daughter combinations who are members.Mothers sometimes bring along their
children when they sing.
Photos of PMG members:
What are the other advantages of
being a Pioneer Music Gym member?
With my vast experience in music, I personally coach the singers.
I help them improve their rhythm sense, pitch perfection, and sing with
expressions and good modulations.
We have holistic fun. We dance. We pull each other’s legs and
maintain good camaraderie. Members get a good break from their monotonous
stress-filled lives. They become good friends with other members.
We also do a charity show once a year in places like Music Academy
and Lady Andal Hall. And perform for underprivileged homes. This gives the members
the satisfaction of contributing back to society.
At a charity show Crescendo:
Can you tell us
about the Pioneer Music Gym App?
The App enables the
members to hear the edited versions of the tracks before they come for the
session. The app also has pitch and tempo changing facilities.
How many
branches of PMG are in operation now? What are your future plans?
We have branches at
Sun Plaza, OMR, and Valasarawakkam in Chennai and one in Mumbai. There are
around 70 members now and we plan to take the concept nationwide and globally,
if possible, with franchise options.
PMG Members
How did you
overcome the corona wave in 2020-2021?
People were hesitant to come and sing during those days. I was
blessed as my owner waived off rent for 2 years and waited for better days to
come up. We had online singing sessions during Covid times.
Do you have any programs for
non-members?
We do have but not in the name of PMG. We call them
non-pmgians or private groups. On
Saturdays, we conduct events in which non-members can also participate.
Recently, we had programs for Shreya Ghosal Birthday, Magalir Mattum for
Women’s Day, and TMS 100th Birthday celebrations.
Tell us about the current PMG admin Durai.
Durai is from Andaman and has done his BBA. He came to Chennai
with a vision to participate in the Airtel Super Singer contest. He is
dedicated and loyal. We are happy and proud to have him with us. He is a good
dancer too.
Tell us about
your family.
My wife is a social activist
and was a Banyan NGO employee. My daughter has
specialized in Speech Therapy and plans to go to Canada for her higher studies.
Hi All - Sang 'Heal the World' song of Michael Jackson along with my cousin and niece. Hope you like this short version. Please bear with our mistakes :)
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