Science broadcast in Kerala ; treading firmly - An article by D. Pradeep Kumar, ADP, AIR Manjeri FM

Jawaharlal Nehru,​ the ​architect of modern India was a visionary. He envisaged that Akashvani, the official medium,and the only grass root-level mass communicator should instill scientific temper among it’s citizens. As an effective tool to fight superstition , by inculcating scientific and rational thinking, All India Radio stations in India started a volley of programmes in local languages and dialects, catering to the communication requirements of societies concerned. Apart from entertainment, of which film, indigenous and classical music formed a major chunk ,educationa l programmes too enriched the broadcast content. Though radio broadcasting in Kerala had it's origin on 12th March 1943 as Travancore Radio,it was integrated in to the All India Radio network on 1st April, 1950. The royal radio ,which used to begin and conclude the daily broadcast praising the king by playing 'Vancheeamangalam", had a​lready started carrying the message of national reconstruction, by rehauling it's content,which was heavily packed with classic music and memoirs of those from ​the upper echelons.The waves of democracy have swept in. Talks, interviews, short-skits ,plays ,songs etc on freedom movement, social reforms, democratic values,five-year plans,building of dams and huge factories,family planning schemes,literacy campaigns, health awareness programmes etc were broadcast, carrying the messages to the nook and corner of the State in their language. 

The society was then just started it's tryst with democracy, plagued by superstition and blind beliefs ,as the literacy rate was abysmally poor. Exposure to media was meagre. Radio sets too were very limited and costly, not affordable to common public. Funds were allotted to start radio kiosks in public places by the Central and State Governments. People begun to assemble around the radio sets in parks, bus stops, junctions, libraries, Panchayath offices etc to listen to news,talk,informative programmes,plays skit etc in a majority of places in Kerala with the launch of Akashvani stations in Kozhikode and Thrissur in 1955 and 1956 respectively. Fragmented geographically,politically and culturally in to diff​erent sects and social groups since time immemorial, it was a Herculean task to unite them through radio broadcasts. They had to evolve first, a standardised language for broadcast , which is appealing to all sections of society,while retaining the cultural identities. Thus, news, informative programmes, announcements and talks were broadcast in a standardised language ,while majority of rest of other programmes like plays, skits,interviews with farmers, social activists ,indigenous music etc were aired in local dialects or spoken language, keeping a balance.

News bulletins extensively carried science news, by covering inventions, discoveries,explorations,and development activities in the fields of agriculture, health and hygiene, electrification etc. Translating the scientific or technical terms was an uphill task. They had to make science understandable to listeners;for which a number of new words had to be coined. Plague and other fatal contagious diseases used to cost thousands of precious lives every year.Public health facilities were very rare .In some places where people had access to modern medicine, there were strong opposition from different quarters due to religious beliefs and superstition, Black magicians ,astrologists and occult practitioners were ruling the roost. (The message of science is yet to reach the masses) .Medical practitioners and paramedical staff deputed for immunisation and medication against contagious diseases were manhandled in several places by violent mobs. It was a taboo to speak in public about reproductive health, lest alone family planning. The message of small family was resisted violently by some religious groups.Those who violated the religious dictates and adopted family planning methods by visiting the camps organized by the State Health Department were often ostracised and excommunicated. Thus, it had socio-political ramifications; to be addressed to, with caution. 

The Government needed the strong backing of Akashvani,the popular mass communication medium to instill scientific temper in to society, which was dogged by irrational thinking and blind beliefs. Short features,talks etc on scientific subjects had already became part of the programme content in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode stations .But the turning point was the launch of Thrissur station in 1956.It was one among the​ 10 station started in India exclusively for agriculture broadcast .It was intended to give media support to the Grow More Campaign of Central Government,​ started in 1952,​ aimed at self-sufficiency in agriculture production. Lakhs of lives in India had perished due to famine after Wo​rld War 2. Food scarcity was acute. Situated in the middle of Kuttanad and Palakkad, the rice bowls of Kerala,a​ daily agriculture programme entitled "Vayalum Veedum"(Farm and Home) was launched from this station on August 11,1966,​​ with some officials depu​t​ed from State Agriculture Department as Farm Radio Officers and Reporters.They had visited villages and remote places; talked to farmers about their indig​enous knowledge,anguish about adapting to new methods, pest-control, high-yielding variety crops, new cattle varieties, health, hygiene, family planning ,schemes of Government etc and played them back to experts and officilas. Thus exclu​sive p​rogrammes were produced and broadcast daily​ .I​t was a compo​s​​ite programme, covering all the field​s​ of life,in different formats.Weather bulletins,cyclone and wind warning too were given daily, benefiting farmers and fishermen .

​Later agriculture lessons​ and farm news too were launched with the active support of Kerala Agriculture University and Government agencies. For agriculture scientists and medical experts, it was a 'lab to field' programme, extending the results of scientific inventions to the day to day life of common people. Instead of the jargon-laden formats ,they were forced to speak and write in native language and dialects, intelligible to lay listeners; thus reaching out to masses.This has revolutionied radio broadcast in Kerala ,in several repects.Boring discourses on scientific subjects, accompanied with a host of technical details had been replaced with listener-friendly programme formats,accessible even to illiterate laymen.Thus evolved radio skits. Now known as radio cartoons ,these programme​s​ are quite popular in Keral​a​ since 1970s.The weekly skits,"Kandathum Kettathum" in All India Radio,Thiruvananthapuram,"Kinchana Varthamanam" in Kozhikode and "Palarum Palathum" in Thrissur attracted a huge audience,as they cladestently crticised the vices of the society, giving a fillip to scientific temper and rational thinking. Sandwiched in humour, radio cartoons not only spread the messages of Green Revolution, immunisation campaign, literacy,women’s emancipation,Grow More Campaign,family planning,Operation Flood,bio- diversity,green house effect,preservation of environment,green energy etc .but also surpassed the inherent restrictions as being the Government- controlled media by highlighting the negative aspects too.

Written by noted playwright Thikkodiyan in early 1970s,"Kinchana Varthamanam" ,which has it's predecessors in the agricultural programmes,was an instant hit. ''Nattinpuram",a live humorou programme started a part of " Vayalum Veedum", dealt with subjects ranging from science,agriculture and social awareness to welfare measure of the Government ,was an instant hit. Based basically on current events Kinchana Varthamanam" had one stock character,Sankunni Ammavan. N.N.Kakkad,veteran poet and staff member,lent voice to this character.Other participants were P.M.Mohammed Koya,Rajam K Nair,Vinayan,Balakrishnan. Nair,K.V.Rama handran,M.Pushpa Kumari,U.A .Khader,Manjula Mathews,Kappil V Sukumaran ,all staff members.Prominent actors Balan K Nair,Kuthiravattonpm Pappu,Nellikode Bhaskaran and Kunjava too lent voice occasionally.Thikkodiyan extensively used the local dialects of the Muslim and Hindu communities of Malabar. "Palarum Palathum" in Thrissur too has it's origin in 1970's.Written and presented by M.D Rajendran,lyricist and staff announcer, in early years,prominent voices were of R.Manikantan Nair,Thrissur P Radhakrishnan ,C.P.Rajasekharan and M.Thankamani,apart from the author.There was no stock character. 

It is believed that Nagavally R. S .Kurup and Jagathy N.K Achari had written the earlier scripts for "Kandathum Kettathum".Thirunayanarkurissi,Madavoor Bhasi,K.G.Sethunath,Veeraraghavan Nair too wrote scripts and lent voice to the skits,which are stock-character based.It was S.Ramankutty Nair, who wrote the script and presented the central character,an octogenarian,who speaks in typical local dialect,made it one of the most popular radio programmes in Kerala.T.P. Radhamani,K.G.Devakiamma and C.S Radhadevi too carved a niche for themselves playing opposite to S.Ramankutty Nair.This popular radio cartoon has an unceremonious exit in October,this year.Kalikalam,a daily popular radio cartoon started by Biju Mathew along with Sreekumar Mukhathala in 2007 in the morning chunk too has two stock characters, now being played by K.A. Muralidharan and Rajeshwari Mohan,with occasional presence of another stock character,by G.Sreeram.Sarcastic comments on current events made it a popular programme thanks to the scripts written by S.Narayanan Nampoothiri for a few months and K A Muralidharan,thereafter . The term radio cartoon has been familiarised to the listeners in Kerala with the advent of "Kalikalam". 

I have been associated with radio skits since October,2013. I took up the skit programme "Palarum Palathum" in Thrissur station too, after joining there on transfer in April,2006.It was an accidental entry,as my colleague in Kozhikode station,who had been assigned to script it that week failed to turn up.Though never wrote any humorous piece earlier,I managed to cobble one.That was an unexpected success.Thus begun my jounrey through this road,untravelled.I drew characters mainly from the current socio-political events.I tried to introduce a pattern with only one theme or incident,usually with two characters ,ending in a dramatic twist. Most skits are event- centric,not comment-centric.They are light satires,by nature.The duration is maximum 5 mts.Local dialects and slangs of all parts of Kerala had extensively been used ,apart from the new-generation yuppie style.These satires vehemently attacked social evils,superstitions and manthra-thanthras. ”Deepasthambham Mahascharyam”,a daily radio cartoon with two stock characters,being broadcast daily in the popular morning programme of Kochi F M station since last two years is a classic example of effective science communication through skits. 

All these programms, from Vayalum Veedum to skits, played a major role in creating scientific temper in society, apart from the routine science broadcasts from all stations,known in different names like 'Harithavani",'Sathrajalakam","Sasthralokam" etc. A major portion of the education broadcat of Akashvani stations in Kerala too are science-related subjects. A number of serials were produced by Kerala stations at the behest of Vignan Prasar,an organaisation under the Ministry of Science and Technology for promoting scientific and rational thinking.During 1980's, experts in Science broadcast like G.Jayalal and K.S.Ranaprathapan were appointed as Science Officers and production assistants, to script and produce such programmes in Akashvani.That practice has since been stopped,though Transmiion Executives with science background are being selected for the same. Programmes on science and technology are still being aired in Yuvavani,the youth programme.To meet the communication requirement of the common people,a daily informative programme on computer and mobile phones,entitled "Cyber Jalakam" was launched by me in Thrissur station in 2011.This is now being broadcast in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kannur stations, daily. 

In the context of the phenomenal advance of technology and it's application in common people's life,an array of new programme like live phone-ins,phone- out quizzes etc are the need of the hour. Since the process of distributing social welfare pensions too has been made online,even the marginalised sections want to know about the new developments in this field. Therefore, most of the routine programmes have now become science broadcast too. Whether in a utility programme on village office or U P S C ,Grama Panchayath or Parliament,on-line services imparted by by them through internet have to be highlighted in spoken words,devoid of excessive technical details and academic jargons. Interactive programmes involving scientists and technologists too have to be simple and easily communicable. ​Science journalism is yet to come of age in Kerala and elsewhere.​Science broadcast ,a late entity compared with it's print media counterpart, is miles to go.But with a very few practitioners and dwindling intake of brodcasters with science back ground ,genuine journalitic aptitude, communication skills and flare for writing , the future seems to be not so bright. 

Yet the public service broadcater is treading firmly in it’s mission of instilling scientific temper. Though a sea-change has occurred in media since the vision as envisaged by Nehru in 1950s, Akahvani has not yielded to the temptations of the alluring market. It’s doors are still shut against astrologers, palmists, futurologists, thantriks, self-styled Gods, occult practitioners ,preachers of magical remedies and their kind. 

Akashvani stands alone at high pedestal, unpolluted, spreading the message of science. 

Contributed by :- Shri. D. Pradeep Kumar ,dpradeepkumar2@gmail.com