Romance with my Radio !!

 

I was browsing thru my online folder where I had downloaded a few WhatsApp attached files.

And I came across this sound clip which many of you would also have got sometime or the other – The All India Radio (AIR) Signature Tune !!

And hearing this haunting tune once again brought   a wave of nostalgic memory of my ‘tryst’ with my Radio (Transistor radio).  

I have listened to her every morning after I woke up and brushed my teeth. I enjoyed her music in the afternoons, spent many evenings with her by my side – she playing soft instrumentals or singing gazhals while I nursed my drink and spent many a late night with her next to my pillow.

To all folk of my generations (mid sixties), the radio or transistor radio was one of our most prized possession. We all bought one the day we could afford it. And some of us in college built our own radio sets– bought chassis with 5-band piano keys, transformer, Valves (Vacuum tubes) rotary dial, large 8 inch speaker  and filter and choke and other components including the greenish magic eye tube (remember?? ) ! And a 5-metre thin wire for an antenna!!!  And we patiently wired it up after suffering quite a few painful shocks as well. 

Those days many electrical appliances gave nasty shocks – like radio, room heater, water heater rods, toaster, grinder and even the fridge !

Radio was our life line in college (hostel). It was our I-Pod & news channel & Wikipedia all rolled into one !!

And today, sadly, even the word ‘Radio/Transistor’  is forgotten.

Today’s kids will call it ‘Car Stereo’ & ‘FM-Tuner’, which is also a feature in every Smart Phone, MP3 players and in BT headsets. And the only time people hear a radio, oops FM station is  when they commute between office & home – listening to nonstop chattering of Radio Jockeys, RJs,  like Loveleen in Delhi and RJ Sayema hosting Purani Jeans on Radio Mirchi !! and RJ Balaji from down south.

With the current state of lockdown and zero commuting, wonder how many of us still tune in to Radio One or Radio Mirchi, Fever or Vividh Bharati.

And I wonder what happened to Loveleen. She had that typical nasal twang and Punjabi accent that belted out her script at 150-200 words per minute. 

And I had listened to her for 60 minutes every day / 5 days a week for 7 months while I used to commute between my home in Kalkaji to my office in Global Business Park, Mehrauli, on MG Road in Gurgaon !!

 

Switch back to Radio .

Today one does not see a Radio.  Its extinct!

In my younger days the Radio occupied the prime spot in our living room, which today is usurped by the 56-inch 4K Ultra Android Smart LED TV.

Our Radio in Dehra Dun  stood on a stand-alone table on top of a bright coloured tablecloth. The radio was also protected from dust by a white embroidered   napkin.  

In my granddad’s house in Vellore, a huge 5 band radio with polished teak wood cabinet sat on a specially fixed shelf five feet above floor level so that we children could not tamper with the knobs.

 

The Radio brought our family together. And it was the one time when dad was in his best mood and would not ask me about my homework. And I would patiently tolerate my three sisters piling on top of me to be nearest to the Radio.

On  Wednesdays, we would have an early dinner, I would help mom clean up the kitchen, my sisters would lay out the cushions in front of the Radio for us to sit comfortably while dad would slowly and very patiently tune to Radio Ceylon (catching the AM signal from Ceylon, now Sri Lanka,  to our home 3,400 kms away in Dehra Dun!) . 

And from 8 PM onwards we would listen in rapt attention, listening  to Ameen Sayani  and the wonderful songs he would play for us !!  Yes. The Binaca Geetmala !! He would rate the songs depending on how many times it was aired and declared the top ones as ‘Sartaj’ geet.  And these were chosen for the Year end Binaca Geetmala Grand Finale !!

Wonder if you still remember some of those 1966 hits  - Jhumka gira rey & Ley gayee Dil, Gudiya Japan ki & Gaata Rahey mera dil and so on…. and many of those wonderful  Shammi Kapoor hits !!!

 

And when TV toppled our Radio on the prime spot,  Tabassum took over from Ameen Sayani with her Phool khiley hain Gulshan Gulshan and Chitrahaar replaced Binaca Geetmala .

 

And the airwaves in south was dominated by Elangai Vanoli where  crisp Sinhalese voice would read out the news in Tamil.

And remember ‘Ungal Abdul Hamid !” ?? and Elangai Vanoli Nilayam – Tamil Chevai Irandu would belt out popular Tamil hits.

 

We had just one broadcasting entity , the All India Radio (AIR). Each morning when dad would turn on the Radio it would start with a monotone until the AIR signature music would come followed by Vande Mataram.

Akashvani  would start with Suprabhatam each morning  followed by a short session on appreciating classical Hindustani music. And then the news and then film songs !

I can recall some wonderful memories of listening to Bhooley Bichurey Geet . My mom would crank up the volume and sing along with Noor Jahan – Jawan hai Mohabbat, haseen hai Jamana ….  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VvErsLMURU

 

And Aapki Farmayish  in the afternoon. Here is when we would hear the following announcement each day ..

Naya Jalna sey Pinki, Bittu, Rajesh, Amin aur Sita,

Jhumri taliyya sey Deepak , Abdul, Nisha, Babli , Tejas aur Diya

Shekupura Pakistan sey Arshad, Juhi, Tasleem, Javed, Tikku aur Nimmi

Aur ab hum suntey hain - Majhrooh Sultanpuri ka  likha, Shankar Jaikishen key sangeet  sey sajaya aur Tatat Mehmood  ki awaaz mein yeh geet …. (did I get it right ?? )

And so on…

And have you listened to ‘Fauji Bhaiyon ki pasand‘ ??  And I have heard some soldiers sing pretty well too in this program. And heard a few emotional anecdotes as well. And during the times when we had skirmishes and battles with Pakistan, this program would go on an overdrive with patriotic songs. Manoj Kumar’s films would monopolise most of them !!

 

On Sundays we could not miss the Cadbury’s Bournvita Quiz Contest!!

We would mug up that week’s ‘Competition Master’ or ‘Competition Success Review’ and try to answer the questions .

And Derek O’Brien was our supreme hero!! And I strongly suspected he favoured Don Bosco, Calcutta.

Then Sidharth Basu took over the TV version .

 

And the News in English by Lotika Ratnam.

And the Hindi news from that awesome gravel tone  of the legendary Devaki Nandan Pandey !!  I can still recollect their pronunciation and diction.

and Akashvani seitheegal vasippadhu Saroj Narayanaswamy !

Later the TV version saw a sober Salman Sultan & Tejeshwar Singh taking up prime time  …

 

Listening to cricket commentary on the Radio was a wonderful experience.

And I can bet that no amount of AR/VR can replace the experience one can feel when your ears are glued to the radio speaker and your brain is on overdrive imagining and visualising 13 players in whites plus 2 referees @ the Brabourne Stadium .

Here is an instance when Hanumant Singh scored his first century in his test debut against England (1968 ?? ) . A small bunch of us were huddled near our radio, tension mounting as he neared his 100^th mark. We were all sweating and imagining what would be happening in the Delhi stadium. We could also note the rising excitement and tension in the commentators voice as the fateful ball was being tossed . And all of a sudden the huge roar  and static noise blanketed our senses. We did not know if he was bowled out or hit a sixer.  And it took a full 60 seconds before we finally realised that he scored a century .  Those 60 seconds our imagination went wild !! And then we erupted with joy that I have not experienced in a very long time.  The present day action reply in slow motion is nothing compared to those instances.

And I am sure some of you would have listened to our own Ravi Chaturvedi in his rapid fire Hindi tongue, Bill Lawrie’s Australian drawl, Omar Qureshi who got upset every time a Pakistani wicket fell,  and the clipped accent of Tony Greig.

Now its Harsha Bhogle all the way !!  We also saw Mandira Bedi in her noodle straps on some occasions.

 

Cricket season, people would bring their radios near the front door or balcony, turn up the volume so that people in the street could also hear & follow  the running commentary !!

 

And I have seen many folks carry their bulky transistors on the front basket attached to their bicycle handle and cricket commentary running in full blast !! 

 

And there are a lot more wonderful times  I have shared with my radio  .

Listening to Shastreeya Sangeet Karyakram wherein Gangubhai Hangal & Omkar Nath Thakur would render aalaap for torturous hours trying to squeeze out the last molecule of  Raag Malkaus !  

And in Vellore,  I would sit with my patti listening to AIR Madurai late night ‘katcheri’ when MS &  Venkateshwarulu Voleti  would deliver a similar treatment to Raga Hindolam !

And Hear Alfred Hitchcock’s plays on BBC re broadcast

Tune in to Voice of America and sing along with Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday and gleefully listen to Connie Francis singing Never on a Sunday. And Vividh Bharati  10 PM Listener's Choice .

And the whole family huddle late night to hear live commentary of Apollo-11 touchdown back on earth with Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin & Michael Collins .

Hear the fateful declaration of Emergency and then the assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi and the mass killings and riots in Delhi after that .

And the war we won in Bangladesh and liberated them from Pakistan and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s speech after that .

And many many more …

And let me close with another wonderful radio progeam  . Hawa Mahal !!

Hawa Mahal was15 min radio program broadcasted by  All India Radio’s channel Vividh Bharti.

You can hear it on  FM channel 102.9 MHz where this program is played at 8PM (Mon – Saturday). Stories, Anecdotes, Snippets, skits, plays or natak, jhalki, vyang in Hindi are what Hawa Mahal deals with. The specialty is the  local stories that are close to us, our culture and stories of this land.

Here are two quaint ones that I recommend you hear .  Comes with its own unique brand of humour, over-acting, exaggerated expressions all generously sprinkled on top of a very simple and subtle storyline !

Bin Bah Ka Sweater – (Half Sweater)

Ataichi Case – (Suitcase)

Enjoy  !!

Krish..