A Symphony of Science and Soul: The Legacy of Dr Kinjalk

In an era seeking balance, depth and holistic perspectives, Dr Nishindra Kinjalk stands at the confluence of medicine, music, literature and therapeutic sciences. A Top-Grade Sitar Artist of Akashwani Delhi, Pandit Nishindra Kinjalk is also a pioneer in music therapy, a poet, and a senior consultant in internal medicine. With over four decades of patients care, he offers a rare example of how art and science can integrate to elevate human well-being.

The Making of a Maestro

His artistic foundation was shaped in childhood under the tutelage of his father, Pandit Ravindra Kinjalk, a renowned sitar artist and a music composer. Famous vichitra veena maestro Pandit Gopal Krishna of Maihar Senia Gharana, later trained him with the intricacies of dhrupad style of music composing. Afterwards, he learned the finer crafts of sitar playing from sitar maestro Pandit Uma Shankar Mishra, another legend of Maihar Senia Gharana. This journey of training, along with the soulful improvisation led Nishindra to get the coveted recognition by Prasar Bharati as a top-grade artist in sitar, conferring the title of a Pandit. At a time when classical form of music and arts grapple with dilution and commercial pressures, this honour sure bestows upon him a responsibility towards preservation, promotion and innovation of Indian music, and to act as an inspiration for future generations.
He also plays rare Indian musical instrument surbahar with equal dexterity, and, is an accredited surbahar artist at Akashwani Delhi
His sitar performances, marked by introspective alap, dhrupad style jod and veena style intricate rhythmic patterns in Jhala puts him in a league of purists of Maihar Gharana. His sitar playing maintains the purity in presenting a raga. His short compositions have the sublime hues of folk music from the eastern India. His rendering of kajari, dadra and vrijji dhun have got him high acclaim from the music lovers and the connoisseurs alike. He has to his credit the creation of new ragas, Ravi Kalyan, Vibhavari and Neelkauns; and a rhythmic cycle of eleven and a half beats named Kinjalk taal.
Immersed in the lineage of the premier school of Indian instrumental classical music, the Maihar Senia Gharana, a home to legends such as Ustad Allauddin Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Gopal Krishna, Pandit Nikhil Banerjee and Pandit Uma Shankar Mishra, Dr Kinjalk absorbed both, the intricate musical craftsmanship and the meditative philosophy that define this gharana.

Pioneering Music Therapy in India

Parallel to his music and medical career, he nurtured a deep interest in the therapeutic power of music. Long before music therapy entered the mainstream medical discourse in India, he was busy integrating raga-based interventions into patient care, guided by his unique dual identity as a clinician and as a classical musician.
His contribution took definitive shape in the form of a unique way of music therapy, the Kinjalk Mode of Music Application (KIMMA). This is an indigenous, structured, and research-driven approach to music therapy. Built on the foundations of raga architecture, psychoanalysis & emotional profiling of the subject, and the clinical relevance, KIMMA is used to support management of hypertension, diabetes, postoperative stress, insomnia, anxiety, learning difficulties, memory impairment, pain management, stress management and various other psychosomatic ailments including neurodegenerative disorders like alzheimer’s disease.
Through workshops, training, mentoring, academic talks, clinical collaborations and clinical research, Dr. Kinjalk has shaped the national conversation around music therapy, establishing himself as one of its pioneering voices. His work continues to influence physicians, psychologists, musicians, music therapists, and wellness practitioners across India and abroad. He also has a PhD in music with music therapy as his core research.

Crafting Emotions in Verse

A parallel stream of creativity flows through Dr. Kinjalk’s literary work. He has been writing poems, prose and essays since his student times. His books – Off the Soul, Symphony, and Lanterns of Silence, are all collections of poems and poetic prose. They reflect his contemplative voice and an artist’s sensitivity to silence, emotion, philosophy, and inner landscapes.
Off the Soul was his first declaration as a poet-philosopher, weaving themes of solitude, memory, nature and introspection. Symphony expanded his lyrical universe, offering meditative reflections on human experience. His latest work, Lanterns of Silence, has been widely appreciated for its depth, structural elegance, and its evocative journey through quietness, fragility, and illumination. Together, these works place him firmly within the tradition of physicians who write not just to communicate, but to ensure the pleasure of reading.

A Lifelong Commitment to Healing

His medical career began at one of the most prestigious institutions in India—Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune. The discipline, precision, and clinical grounding he received there, shaped his journey as a versatile person. He had training in the clinical skills of medicine from leading medical institutions in India. To name a few, these were St Stephen Hospital Delhi, Escorts Heart Institute Delhi, P D Hinduja Hospital Mumbai and Holy Family Hospital Delhi.
For more than forty years, he has treated patients with unwavering compassion and clarity with evidence based clinical medicine. His ability to listen patiently is sure a trait shaped as much by his musical training as by his clinical expertise. His reputation rests not only on skill, but on an ethical and empathetic approach to the patient care.

A Life That Inspires

Whether performing an intricate raga, designing a therapeutic intervention through KIMMA, writing a poem, or diagnosing and treating a complex medical case, Dr. Nishindra Kinjalk approaches every task with precision, sensitivity, and reverence. His life stands as an inspiring model of how music, medicine, and literature can intertwine, creating a richer, more humane version of healing