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.