Music Academy Season Tickets

[Rajagopalan_V]

Friends, wrote this last year. Guess it's applicable this year too! Yes, as you know, just in jest

For the benefit of those who haven't yet seen the customary full page program schedule on the Music Season Special Supplement of The Hindu today --

Eligibility / Selection Criteria for Season Tickets ---

1. Minimum of 75% in 10th and 12th Stds. Notary attested mark sheets to be presented.

2. Minimum of 70% in Bachelor's and/or Master's degree. No arrears in any subjects in any semester. Attested mark sheets of all semesters to be produced.

3. Ration Card, PAN Card, Passport, Driving License, Aadhar Card and Voter Id -- all of the above in original to be produced at the ticket counter. 2 attested copies of each need to be submitted.

4. Those holding valid Drivers' License issued in the 50 (or 48?) continental states of the US of A are given 5 grace marks.

5. Residents of the Greater Mylapore area, immediate blood relatives and descendants of performers in the evening slots and super senior slots in the morning are given 5 grace marks upon producing attested, documented proof for the same.

6. Written Test carries a weightage of 50 marks. Broadly covering Trinity, Papanasam Sivan, Purandaradasa and 20th century Thamizh composers.

7. Group Discussion carries a weightage of 25 marks. Topics will only be on Trinity compositions.

8. Personal interview carries 25 marks. The panelists comprising of Shri. PSN Mama, Smt. Vedavalli Mami and Shri. BM. Sundaram will conduct the personal interviews. Their decision will be final. No further correspondence will be encouraged with the President and/or any Executive Council members.

Also, applicants are strongly advised against queuing outside the Academy premises from this afternoon onwards. The counters open sharp atm 09:00 am tomorrow and applicants are strongly advised to come to the venue not earlier than 2 hours before.

Here's wishing all the very best for applicants.

Have a Happy and Fulfilling Music Season 2013.

Issued on behalf of the President, Executive Committee and Governing Council, The Madras Music Academy, Chennai - 14.

[arasi]

Rajagopaln_V,

Love this!

Now I know why I fail to get tickets for some evening performances Your qualifying list is very amusing, and of course, reality is grim #:-s.

One consolation: if you are there really early in the morning, you may get tickets to watch the streaming of the evening's concert in the mini hall.

[Rajagopalan_V]

According to the latest survey results from Sabhahoppers.com, 47% of mamas and 46% of mamis attending sabha concerts are cell phonically challenged.

They are as felicitous in identifying the mute button on the phone as they are in identifying the raga Pravalajyoti or Dundubhi.

To counter this effectively, leading sabhas have installed specially commissioned jammers provided by 'Mute that Irritating Phone Inc'., which scour the auditorium for unmuted phones, alter the binary code on their SIM Cards to mute the phone and give 108 missed calls to this number from their spouses' phone.

Informed rasikas inform us that one of the sabhas has hiked its Season Tickets rates by 27% this year on account of them offering this value added service to the harrowed rasikas.

Some of the tech unsavvy sabhas have resorted to an archaic method of deploying NCC Cadets at the entrance of the sabha, who forcefully snatch away the cellphones from mamas and mamis, unmindful of the protests registered and the dire warnings issued by them of writing to The Hindu.

However, it is to be noted that these volunteers have been trained extensively by the Mumbai Dabbawalas in assigning a unique 7 character hieroglyphics code to each phone before depositing it in the huge gunny bags kept next to them. With this foolproof method, they could revoke the phone to the legitimate owner at the end of the performance with considerable ease.

Please watch this space for updates on this in the coming days as the magic of the Season unfolds in full bloom :-B

[Nick H]

Phone behaviour is getting worse. The number of people who will actually take a call during a concert is rising. One can tell the intelligence of these people by noting the fact that they seem to think that if they cover their phone/mouths with their hands, or put their head down, people will not hear or notice. They should note that the mouse that hides its head when being chased by a cat still gets eaten.

Leaving the phone on, or not putting it in silent mode, is something that happens to all by accident sometimes, so I am not advocating capital punishment, even though the crime is a heinous one that strikes against the very soul and fabric of society.

Almost as bad as taking the call in the auditorium is holding the phone, still ringing, while casually perusing the screen to see who is calling; walking casually towards the door with the ringing phone, or heading for the exit having begun the conversation.

Next on the list comes being good enough to quickly leave the hall, but not quite clever enough to move away from the open doorway.

Any offence caused is purely intentional )

[hnbhagavan]

Dear Nick,

People should necessarily switch the phone mode to silent.?But people intentionally do not do this inspite of repeated request even by organizers.As much as we point out the short comings in the conduct of music program,i am sad to note the indiscipline of rasikas.Come to think of it,indiscipline is rampant in all walks of life - be it garbage disposal or driving in traffic.It is no wonder that people do not follow basic rules in concerts - mobile phones and conversing with friends.

[sureshvv]

Yes. I saw this atrocious incident today. May be one of these days, the artiste on stage should make/take a call and have a long conversation in the middle of the neraval

[harimau]

May be one of these days, the artiste on stage should make/take a call and have a long conversation in the middle of the neraval

Some upapakkavadhyam artists are known to send SMS messages during the concert.

I guess it is their way of whiling away time as they have to wait for a signal from the mridangam artist to play and they may not get it for a long time. )

[harimau]

People should necessarily switch the phone mode to silent.?But people intentionally do not do this inspite of repeated request even by organizers.

Last year, some idiot sitting behind me at the Music Academy was singing along. There were plenty of empty seats but he chose to sit behind me. I told him he should get on the stage if he wants to sing. That, along with some unparliamentary language from me, silenced him.

One of these days, I am going to grab somebody's phone and throw it forcefully against the wall. I may get banned for life from the Sabha but it wouldn't be a great loss if it is the Music Academy. :-BD

[hnbhagavan]

As done in famous temples - Ex Tirupathi ,Mobile phones should be deposited at the entrance with a token and collected after the concert.I recognize that people need mobile to find out the car location or auto location etc.In such a case people will be cautious and arrange their transport properly before coming to the concert.Many will chose not to bring this gadget to the concert.
The mobile gadget however useful has brought its own disadvantages as i observe people using it even during walking,driving,inside auditoriums etc.

[Nick H]

Yes. I saw this atrocious incident today. May be one of these days, the artiste on stage should make/take a call and have a long conversation in the middle of the neraval

I have told this story before (many times?)

The artist very sternly told the audience to turn off all phones. Shortly after he started, a loud ringing filled the hall. He stopped, and looked around the audience, waiting for the culprit to reveal themselves. The mridangist caught his attention, and pointed to the phone by the artist's own leg ...which was ringing. The artist blushed, humbly apologised and laughed at himself, while switching off the phone.

[arasi]

I left my left hand at home today
Er...the phone which the hand holds--
Never happened before--the music
Goes on and on--without my phone--
No ring sound! No whispering into it--
No nothing--God! the ring goes now
Not for me, for the one on my side--
That's it! I need to run out, scream
And then home, to my very life line!

[ganeshkant]

We pose problem with daily ticket also.For.e.g.a crowd puller performs in the 2nd slot and if U want to listen to the artist singing in the first slot U won't get any ticket in spite of the hall being not that full.It will be better if MA can issue daily ticket for the individual concert just like in Cinema halls.Last year it happened to me.