The catchy, invigorating opening lines of the classic Kannada film song ‘ Apaara Keerthi Galisi Mereva Bhavya Naadidu’ ( This is a great land glowing in its fame ) rent the air at a most unlikely venue. It was being sung with gusto by 25 to 30 police trainees of the 3rd battalion of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) as they marched with synchronised precision at a parade ground in Bengaluru.
The KSRP have adopted this novel approach as part of the rigorous training schedule of its new recruits to ease stress and enhance stamina. What’s more, it helps increase their lung power, which comes in handy in policing.
“Police training is known to be tough and rigorous and on a par with the army. Candidates need stamina and confidence to withstand the training. Music keeps them going and eases the schedule. The objective is to raise their stamina, maintain uniformity, and enhance team effort through discipline,” said Bhaskar Rao, Additional Director-General of Police, KSRP.
The exercise was first tried this October on the special women’s battalion that passed out recently. Candidates were asked to sing popular Kannada patriotic songs, which would go well with the training. The results showed that the recruits felt confident and were ready to go the extra mile, Mr. Rao added.
Singing aloud during the sessions also helped the recruits strengthen their vocal chords, a necessity for them as they are required to speak out loud while on duty to contain any eventuality, such as crowd control or during riots, he said. This practice is carried out during training in both the army and commandos.
“This gives the trainees a feel-good factor and calms the mind, and at the same time, helps in concentration,” said C.R. Chandrashekar, a city-based psychiatrist, pointing out how farmers working in the fields tend to sing songs, and women in villages hum folk songs at work.
