|
|
Dec. 21st, 2004 Over the past few days, there
have been several developments related to the conduct and control of the
affairs and Annual Conference of the Music Academy, Madras. An interim
order of the Madras High Court restored the status quo at the Academy,
thus enabling the current Executive Committee of the Academy to hold the
Annual Conference. While we at Carnatica are happy that the esteemed
Academy is holding its Annual Conference, we note with deep regret
and disappointment that the names of Carnatica and its founder-directors
have been needlessly dragged into a controversy in the process.
It so happens that at the time of interim order
being passed, the Academy's T. T. Krishnamachari Auditorium was reserved by
Carnatica to conduct a couple of musical events between Dec. 19th, 2004 and
Jan. 2nd, 2005. The events, to be sponsored by a reputed business house were planned as a
tribute to MS Amma, the recently departed music legend. The decision to
conduct a festival in the Academy auditorium at this time was made with the
good intention that a Chennai Music Season should not go by without any
performances in the city's most important musical landmark. Moreover, at that time, no one had any idea that the
court would pass an interim order facilitating the Academy's own festival to
proceed. We had made the
reservation after ascertaining the hall's availability from the Academy's
administrative manager and by paying the prescribed rent for each of the
fifteen days that we reserved the hall. We also received duly signed receipts
from the manager for the same. The manager never informed us of the
possibility that the reservations could be arbitrarily cancelled at a moment's
notice, for whatever reason. We had contacted artistes, finalized the
schedules and spent a large amount of money on publicity for these events when
the situation changed dramatically overnight upon the Court's interim order.
All on a sudden, there was massive pressure on us to forego our reservation,
collect a refund of the deposit money and vacate the premises. We respectfully
pointed out to the Academy management that while we had no problem cancelling
our reservation to uphold the greater interest of music, we would certainly
undergo a large financial loss in view of the amounts already invested in the
planned events, over and above the reservation deposit that was now proposed
to be refunded to us. We would also undergo a loss in terms of goodwill from
our sponsor and from artistes who had agreed to perform in these events. For
a young organization that is dependent on bank loans and sponsor
support for survival, the losses would be too high to bear. We made a simple
request to the Academy that in exchange for our giving up the reservation,
they recognize our sponsor during the Academy's own
festival.
We also promised our full,
unstinted co-operation in the conduct of the Academy's Annual Conference,
even to the extent of transferring our own event and artistes in their
entirety to be featured as the official Academy Conference, in view of the
very short time that the Academy had to plan its event. We contacted
several members of the Academy, irrespective of their factional
affiliations, so that the events could be held in a spirit of unity, as a universal tribute to
MS Amma. While we were waiting for the Academy to respond to our request,
newspaper announcements were made by the Executive Committee (EC),
publicizing the start of the Academy Conference on Dec. 19th, i.e. the
same day that we had planned the start of our event. It may be pointed out
that the court in its interim order did not specify a particular date or
time-frame for the conduct of the Academy Conference. This hasty
announcement put us in a difficult situation, as any objection from us
would have been viewed unfavorably by the general public.
In spite of non-receipt of a favorable response or even a perfunctory
expression of regret from the EC to our simple requests, we went ahead and
cancelled the reservation to show our sincerity. We did this against the
wishes of our sponsor, legal advisers, friends and well-wishers, in order to
uphold the verbal commitment of co-operation that we made to the Secretary of
the Academy, who also happens to be a respected patron and participant in
Carnatica's activities. Unfortunately, our stance and request
were viewed by some
influential members of the EC as a
deliberate ploy to stall the Academy's proceedings and that we were trying
to dictate terms of sponsorship for the Academy Conference. It is being alleged that we
acted at the behest of one of the parties in the ongoing litigation
concerning the Academy. The basis for these allegations is that
copies of our hall reservation receipts appeared in court at the time of the
hearings prior to the interim order being passed. Some EC members
concluded that these copies originated from us and that we were part of a
larger conspiracy to derail the Academy.
The very unfortunate
denouement of this entire episode is that the EC has chosen a path of
personal vendetta against Carnatica's directors Sowmya and Shashikiran by
barring them from performing at the Academy. Even more distressingly, this
ban has been extended to Shashikiran's brother, Chitravina maestro Sri. N.
Ravikiran too, even though he is absolutely unconnected with Carnatica and
has had no part in the planning or execution of the series that we had
envisaged. Some of our staff members who are also performing artistes have
been denied opportunities in this year's concerts because of their
affiliation with Carnatica. These decisions of the EC were conveyed to
Shashikiran by two members of the EC who summoned him to a meeting at the
Academy and also by the Secretary over telephone. The complete schedule of
the Academy Conference released today reflects this decision.
We wish to categorically place it on record that none of the allegations is
based on fact. We are not an interested party in the ongoing
litigation concerning the Academy nor is our organization a front for any
of the interested parties. We have not provided supporting evidence to any
party to be used in the court proceedings. There was never any malafide
intention from us or our sponsor to spite the Academy in its time of distress
and gain personal and commercial mileage, as is now being alleged in certain
quarters. Moreover, we also have written acknowledgements from the Executive
Trustee that the hall should never have been rented out to us in the first
place and that it was a mistake of the Manager. It is also now evident that
the court was not informed about the hall being reserved for programmes by
outside parties like us, when the hearings prior to the interim order were in
progress. Carnatica, in all
its seven years of existence has been renowned for the respect and regard that
we have shown for music and musicians. We have deep and everlasting gratitude
for the support and encouragement that we have enjoyed since inception from
several individuals, institutions and business houses. Both our founder-directors, Sowmya
and Shashikiran are musicians who have deep respect for the great
institution that the Music Academy is. Sowmya, Ravikiran and Shashikiran are
artistes who enjoy public adulation on the basis of their musical merit and
the abundant talent they have displayed since childhood. They have been
performing at the Academy for several years now and have won numerous awards
and critical acclaim. To pursue an agenda of personal vengeance on them on the
basis of non-musical matters is highly unethical and unwarranted.
Carnatica also hopes that the
campaign of vilification against our organization, staff and associates will
be stopped forthwith, since we have not been at fault at any point in this
entire episode. We fervently
hope that all issues concerning the Academy are resolved amicably and that the
institution is restored to its pristine glory and pre-eminent position as the
seat of Carnatic Music. --
Editor |
