Introduction

Swara Sampada is a group consisting of like minded people from different professions with the common interest of wanting to improve their ability to listen to quality music and sing. 

Also, the group brings to the fore the dormant musical talents of its members and encourages its growth.

 It may be useful to browse the following brief article written by the Founder President to understand the vision and mission of Swara Sampada.

WHAT IS SWARA SAMPADA ?

Swara Sampada is an organization of families from diverse backgrounds having one thing in common: the love of quality music and the desire to sing it. Most of them have earlier not sung on stage, or if they have, could not continue due to various obstacles. Swara Sampada provides them a platform to start their singing, or restart it, as the case maybe. It provides an atmosphere of positive vibrations amongst its members wherein the positive is accented upon, while helping the individual overcome his musical faults and personality shortcomings, so that he can legitimately graduate to become a quality singer in his own right.

Swara sampada is a unique musical experiment because it seeks to convert bathroom singers into living room singers, and living room singers into stage singers. Usually a student of music learns diligently from a guru, does his riyaz, seeks to present his talent to audiences and get their appreciation. Swara sampada believes that while this is allright, only a few very talented, or very persistent, become quality singers this way. The rest either give up, or become appreciative audiences for the talented few. While this suits the talented few very well, and appears to suit the rest too, Swara sampada believes this is at the cost of one’s own musical development. Music, and singing, may not be as difficult as they are made out to be. If there is persistence, an atmosphere of sincere appreciation, and a fellowship of likeminded individuals wanting to rekindle their desire to learn music, almost everyone can sing, or at least become good appreciators of quality music.

When this experiment was launched, a number of well-intentioned doubted whether it could ever happen, for it seemed to go against most established canons of music. Two years of patient experimentation seem to prove the original premise right: that singing is possible for most, if not everyone, provided the atmosphere is right, and the musical soul is awakened.

Swara sampada has flowered under the benign guidance of its President and other Office Bearers, who work tirelessly to see this dream become a reality. The spirit of comraderie and bonhomie amongst its members has to be seen to be believed. The magic of Swara sampada lies in the feeling of musical accomplishment which a member experiences not only when he masters a song, but when his co-member does the same. For Swara sampadites are generous with their applause and reluctant with their disapprovals.

This experiment now appears to have succeeded with a performance on the big stage by Swara Sampadites on 16 February,2005. This fiftieth performance comes into being after forty-nine medium level performances before audiences numbering 60-150. The Swara sampada monthly meets are marathon learning sessions starting from 9.30 am and going on till 6.30-7 pm, and few abstain, or leave early. The President himself conducts these marathon learning sessions without leaving the stage even once, and the Group Leaders do likewise. Before coming on stage, each singer is informed atleast a month in advance the theme of the next Swara Sampada meet for which he starts preparing in right earnest. The singers meet for their rehearsals before the monthly musical meets, which are marathon 8-10 hours sessions under the direct supervision of the President assisted by the Group Leaders. Each month two Swara Sampadites are chosen as star singers for the next programme and they present a selection of five well rehearsed songs before the group. Swara Sampada has also conducted the Shining Stars Programmes called Aaj Ke Sitare for the last six months, in which earlier stars get a chance to present a medium level stage show before an audience of 140-160. These Aaj Ke Sitare programmes have been very much appreciated by listeners, and boosted the confidence of the singers. These singers are now ripe to present themselves on the big stage.

May we also add here a word on the themes of the Monthly Musical Meets of Swara sampada. They are based on the compositions of one/two great music directors/lyricists/composers/singers, and all Swara Sampadites prepare songs given/sung by that master. In this manner, they have dealt with Music Directors like Naushad, Khayyam, S.D.Burman, R.D.Burman, Shanker Jaikishen, O.P.Nayyar, Kalyanji-Anandji, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Jaidev, Anil Biswas, Roshan, Ravi, A.R. Rahman, Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy; Lyricists like Majrooh Sultanpuri, Hasrat Jaipuri, Shakeel Badayuni, Sahir Ludhianvi; and institutions like Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh. They have also had special programmes on Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsale, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, and have a yearly programme on Mohd. Rafi.

Thus, besides the joy of singing, each Swara sampadite now has a vast collection of songs he can confidently present on stage, besides of course the knowledge that goes along with this learning.

 This second birthday, in February 2005, is actually the first birthday celebration of Swara Sampada. The first was not celebrated on purpose. During that time the Swara sampadites were busy honing their talents and working hard to develop the ability to present their singing expertise, and so it wasn’t time to celebrate still. Now the time has come, when, after the hard work of two solid years, and the blessings of gurus, Swara Sampadites can present their talent on the big stage.

 They seek God’s grace, and your good wishes and company, in this journey.

One last word. They could sing. So can you. Only stop being too critical of your ability, and start a group like Swara Sampada. If you need guidance, we will help you convert your dream into reality.    

Dr. Ajai R.Singh

President, Swara Sampada

16th Feb, 2005. 

[Swara Sampada has celebrated every annual day since and has grown from strength to strength. New chapters are being formed all over India and also soon abroad (ones in Toronto and Houston in the offing).]

Guidelines for Forming a Swara Sampada Chapter

1    Seek formal permission to form a Swara Sampada Chapter in your area from the Founder President Dr Ajai R. Singh at mensanamonographs@yahoo.co.uk .

2.      Start with a group of minimum 12 and maximum 30 families in a group. Children of members are also encouraged to sing. Members should be musically inclined, interesting in honing their musical talents, wanting to encourage others even as they sing themselves. They should not be interested in playing politics, indulging in groupism or idle/malicious gossip, or make this forum a show of their wealth.

3.      Office bearers must include a President, a Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Managing Committee Members [minimum 3]. A Mentor [who may be the president himself/herself] is advisable who is musically knowledgeable, commands the respect of others and guides and offers his time and expertise to others on an Honorary basis. The group may also have 1 or more Honorary Members from those who are respected in the musical field.

4.      The group must meet on a designated date at least once a month. This may be in a hall or turn by turn at members’ residences. Meets should be economically viable, and food/snacks served should not tax the pocket. There must be provision for a proper keyboard player and a table/dholak player, if possible also an octopad player. They may be professionals or also amongst the members. Where such provision is not practically possible, karaoke music may be used but every effort must be made to get live musical accompaniment as soon as possible. Every meet must have a certain theme which is declared by the President one month in advance. There must be a practice session for members before the monthly meet on a special day [for bigger groups] or few hours before the programme on the same day [for smaller groups]. Every monthly meet must have star singers [1-3] who are selected by the President and announced in the earlier session, who sing at least 3 songs, and perform at prime time. They must undergo a special training session apart from the regular training for others. These star singers should be selected turn by turn according to their performance, sincerity, and regularity.

5.      Dues may be collected half yearly and proper accounts must be maintained and presented annually. An annual programme to coincide with the birthday of the respective chapters must be carried out.

6.      The basic philosophy of Swara Sampada as elaborated in the write up ‘What is Swara Sampada’ [above] and further in ‘The Oath of Swara Sampadites’ [below] must be carefully studied and adhered to. Each member must take the oath of Swara Sampadites. Members are given a Swara Sampada Plaque which they must display at home and a Swara Sampada badge which they must wear at all Swara Sampada functions. All plaques and badges are similar but with distinctive colours for each chapter which will be confirmed by the Founder President. All programmes must display the Swara Sampada banner with the mission statement. Each programme must begin with lamp lighting, invocation song, and National Anthem. The President may speak briefly about the theme of the month before starting the programme. The conduction of the programme is ordinarily done by the President, with the help of group leaders [if the group is big, and needs to be divided into 2 sessions, for example]. The President may also be helped by the host in conducting a programme and/or the Secretary.

7.      Managing Committee Meeting must be held at least every quarter. They must be brief, to the point, and must avoid playing politics and ganging up against each other. At no point should meetings and administrative hassles be allowed to supercede music.

8.      The founder president of a certain chapter, with his managing committee, may need to continue beyond one year. However, it is advisable for office bearers to accept terms for one year and make way for new members to accept responsibilities. Office bearers may be chosen by consensus, but where that doesn’t evolve, elections may be needed. Ordinarily, elections and the activities related to it, may be avoided as far as possible.

9.      It is advisable to invite Chief Guests and Guests of Honour for Regular monthly programmes and the Annual Programme. They must be suitably honoured, but without disturbing the regular programme. Best time for them to be present is just before the Star Singers perform. Utmost care must be taken that Swara Sampada does not become an extension of some teacher’s music class.

10.  Swara Sampada encourages cooperation and appreciation, and discourages competition and strife amongst members. Those who seek competitive music platforms are advised to seek other avenues. Helping a fellow member, appreciating his performance, and giving constructive criticism [when asked for] are encouraged. Passing caustic comments, thinking only of oneself, not having patience to wait one’s turn, continuously arguing and disturbing harmony in the group are firmly discouraged. Those who do not understand or subvert the basic philosophy of Swara Sampada must be encouraged to seek other avenues for themselves.

11.  Swara Sampada is a long term commitment to music and fellow members. The bond of friendship extends to Swara Sampadites enjoying moments of happiness with fellow members and helping in each others difficulty, especially of health and other crises. However, Swara Sampada is not to be used to further one’s commercial and business interests.  

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The Oath of Swara-Sampadites

This is a very important document and must be read and reread by every Swara Sampadite very carefully.

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How to form an Institutional Swara Sampada

Institutional Swara Sampadas

Schools, Colleges, and other educational and social institutions are encouraged to form Swara Sampada Chapters provided they adhere to the core principles enumerated earlier.

They also need the following:

1. Approval from the Head of the Institution to start such an activity.

2.  A Teacher/Prof incharge of such an activity who is musically knowledgeable and admininistratively capable.

3. Office bearers from amongst the members, elected/nominated,  who are guided by the Teacher/Prof in charge.

4. Rest of the activities like Monthly meets, star singers, theme sessions, practice sessions, Annual Programme etc remain the same.

5. They shall be named Swara Sampada, .... ... .... .....[Institution's Name]

6. They shall send an annual report of activities to the head of their respective institutions and a copy to the founder president.

Cub and Youth Swara Sampadas

1. Children of Swara Sampada members may form their own Groups. Those upto the age 15 years will be called SS cubs and from 15-21 SS Youth. After 21 yrs, they are eligible to join the Adult SS as full fledged members.

2. They shall be autonomous groups with a Mentor from the parent SS Group which sponsors them to act as a facilitator. He, or his representative, must be present for all meets and meetings and must report to the sponsoring parent group form time to time. He must be a facilitator and motivator, not just a controller and overseer.

3. All other activities like  Monthly meets, star singers, theme sessions, practice sessions, Annual Programme etc remain the same.

4. They shall be named Swara Sampada Cubs, .... ... .... ..... [Sponsoring SS Name], or  Swara Sampada Youth .... .... ..... [Sponsoring SS Name] If one group contains both cubs and youth it shall be named Swara Sampada Youth ... ... ....

Very soon Swara Sampadas will be formed world wide. The basic philosophy and methodology remains the same. 

Colour, caste, religion and nationality are no bar in Swara Sampada.

Already SS Toronto and SS Houston are under active consideration. 

Those who believe in the movement that SS represents are welcome to contact Dr Ajai Singh, Founder President, for more details at mensanamonographs@yahoo.co.uk