Robert Gupta is a musician and pre-med undergraduate from LA that uses his violin as an instrument to communicate with people that is affected by mental illness and marginality. In his TED talk "Robert Gupta: Between Music and Medicine" (April 2012, www.ted.com), he explains how he chose music over medicine and how he discovered he could "heal" just by playing music to people who needed it.
Gupta explains that language is based on the left side of the brain, while music is present in both sides and, given the case, music can help re-establish language in the right hemisphere if the left one is damaged. He also says that “the beauty of music has the ability to speak where words fail.”, thus being a bridge for people of totally different backgrounds and realities to connect beyond language.
I think that music is the ultimate language because it brings forth the most essential emotions in people, no matter who they are and where they live. There is no possible misinterpretation with music, because it creates the same basic feelings and reactions, creating empathy and understanding.
For people who are mentally deficient and marginalized by society, what Gupta offers through his foundation is an amazing gift. In Gupta's words, “for those living in the most dehumanizing conditions … music offers a chance for them to transcend the world around them, to remember that they still have the capacity to experience something beautiful.”
Link to video: http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_gupta_between_music_and_medicine.html
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