At the Sadguru Netra Chikitsalaya in Chitrakoot, 350km from Lucknow, Grammy-winning New York violinist Paul Peabody performed earlier this year throughout the hospital for the patients.  Peabody, who earned global fame with his performance for the film, Titanic, chose to visit a remote, rocky terrain teeming with bandit dens during an India trip. Peabody, 56, had been brought to India by Helpage India and the New York-based Help Me See to hold concerts and raise funds for free cataract operations for the poor. So, Chitrakoot slipped into his itinerary along with New Delhi, Agra and Varanasi.  The violinist performed concerts with Indian instrumentalists each night, but every morning and afternoon, he would turn up at the Chikitsalaya, sit in a corridor and play for the patients.

“Restoring sight is like giving someone a whole new world of colour, light and, most of all, hope. This cause is too close to my heart,” Peabody had told the audience before playing the Titanic score to the accompaniment of the tabla during his three-hour concert on August 11.

Peabody has worked with Michael Jackson and Madonna and is said to have recorded music for over 90 movies including Walt Disney films and the Coen Brothers’ Fargo. He had also performed in New Delhi during the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Paul joined the New York City Ballet violin section in 1979.