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 Yet another season is on its way out. In a couple of days, the sadas at the Music Academy will be held and then that will be that. NRIs will return and sabhas will wear the desolate look that they have when the season is over. Arusuvai and his ilk will begin bracing themselves for the wedding season ahead.
Next year, there will be another season. There is no reason why all this should not go on and on. But somewhere along the line, everyone is losing the big picture and the nitty-gritty. In its 77th year, the season is not a branded event. It is not a commercially focused venture. Does it have a unified image like the Salzburg Festival? No, it does not.
A foreigner who wants to know more about the season does not have a single website where he/she can get all the information he/she wants, on flights, trains, hotel accommodation, sabha schedules and other facilities. At best, all the existing sites have piecemeal information. Worse, not many know of the season at all.
Have the sabhas banded together? No, they have not. Each one follows its own logic and schedule. Out of the 70-odd sabhas in the city not more than a handful are registered with the Registrar of Societies. The rest are mere money-making rackets. They are, therefore, not interested in any large-scale promotion and are content with making the most of each season.
Of the registered few, the Music Academy, which could have done much, has chosen to go the wrong way. Perhaps, the Narada Gana Sabha ought to take the initiative. But will the Academy accept the leadership of NGS? It will not. A catch-22 situation.
Have the commercial interests of the city got together with the season? No, they have not. One cannot blame them. For the sabhas have not bothered to tap the commercial potential beyond the usual sponsorships. There are no special discounts or shopping festivals in connection with the music season. These kind of festivals operating in tandem is what made Dubai famous.
 Next comes transport. No sabha has spared a thought to the kind of strain the traffic around it imposes on the roads. Not one of the sabhas has bothered to expand its parking space by acquiring land. Nobody had the foresight when land was cheap. Nobody has lobbied with the corporation to provide parking lots in the vicinity. Patrons are left to handle it their own way and the resulting chaos is visible all around.
It is high time sabhas moved the Transport Ministry to have season specials that will pick up patrons from specific locations and bring them to the core of the season centre, which is Mylapore/T Nagar. This will reduce traffic congestion.
The season looks outwardly healthy, but commercially it is not. It is high time some serious soul-searching was done and a masterplan emerged.
Sriram.V
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