Akashvani ( Divine Voice) - Listening to the Radio in the 70's Growing up in the 1970’s, we were much attuned to the Radio. This was before the advent of Television. We had the old valve radios which need a pat, hard or soft, to make it work. The transistors and pocket sized transistors came later. Frequency modulation (FM) was not the preferred frequency, Medium or short wave were the ones. On Medium Wave was Vividh Bharti,by All India Radio called Akashvani in Hindi. Given the limited application in those days, radio waves on Medium Wave frequencies were clear. Short wave frequency was used to transmit sound over long distances, hence it wasn’t as clear. Simple days…. Where we come back from school, go off to play and when we are back home doing our homework, there would be Jaimala (Fauji Bhaiyon ke liye) playing in the background. I am sure, the signature tune of Jaimala still plays beautifully in the minds of people belonging to that era. There was Vishesh Jaimala, wherein greats from the field of Cinema would conduct the programme. Hawa Mahal had short stories, voice acted, having relevant social themes. Jaimala and Hawa Mahal are still played on Vividh Bharati. Most programmes were either film based or on sports. We had Man Chahey Geet in the afternoons, where patrons requested to play their favorite songs. One place which was full of enthusiastic patrons was Jhumri Tilayya. The name, in those days, sounded oddly funny, maybe repetition of the unusual name made it so. Later, in my professional life, I met outstanding guys from Tilaya Sainik School. Jhumri Tilayya is a small town connecting Jhumri and Tilaya, in the state of Jharkhand. There was Bhoole Bisre Geet, playing songs from the 1940’s and 1950s. The straight style of singing, with bare minimum music, more of classical songs, brought about a strange feeling of nostalgia. None of us can forget Binaca Geet Mala, compered by the incomparable Ameen Sayani. Each of these programs mentioned the names of the lyricist, music director and the singers along with the movie name. The announcer would use words like, Geetkaar, Sangeetkar and “Gaaya hai” or “Gaane ke Bol”, “Mousiqi” and “Phankar”. Some would also use “Saaz Nawaaz”. We knew the lyricist, music director and singers of most of the songs. The style of writing would also be distinct like the simple ones from Anand Bakshi to the versatile Majrooh Sultanpuri. The free flow of poetry from Sahir Ludhiyanvi and Gulzar saheb. Classical music from Shankar Jaikishan to ghazal based ones from Khayyam and the contemporary ones from R D Burman, whose music is still relevant and melodious. Cricket commentary had Anant Setalvad and Narottam Puri, while hindi had Sushil Doshi, Ravi Chaturvedi etc. There was the legend Jasdev singh for hockey. Sundays were special days, where in you had radio programmes throughout the day. There was Fabina Ki Mehfil, where Johny Walker comically grilled public figures. You had the legendary Bournvita Quiz Contest compered by Hameed Sayani (elder brother of Ameen Sayani). We heard of the Don Boscos and La Martiniere then. I don’t think any other quiz programme stuck to our mind since then, though we may argue that there were later ones by Siddharth Basu which were equally good. There was Cricket with Vijay Merchant, on Sunday afternoons, where the legend spoke in English with elan and impeccable style on the game. During the later part of the evening, we had the equivalent of Ripleys Believe it or Not in Mane Ya Na Mane. Short programmes on the latest Bollywood movies had dialogues, 2 lines of songs, and then the compere in his indistinguishable style would throw the punch line. I remember one for the movie “Karz” ….. Sangeet ka toofan “Lakshmi Pyaare”, Direction ki Aandhi “Subhash Ghai”. Now, while playing a song on Radio, we don’t even know who the lyricist, music director or singer is. The compere just goes on and on making Bakras/Murgi/Gadhas and what not and then you have an endless series of ads. Frankly it’s not possible to even understand the lyrics of the song. In our times we had “ Humne dekhi hai un aankhon ki mehakti khushbu, haath se chhu ke isse rishton ka ilzaam na do” and now we have “ Kehndi paaon paaon”. J J Every song sounds the same. In earlier days, even the names of the radio stations had a meaning…. Vividh Bharati (Diverse Indians)..…. Unlike the trivial Red/Fever/ Mirchi/Big/Mango. Gone are the good old days when listening to radio, music was just unadulterated, blissful and soulful music.
Contributed by :- Shri. Rajesh Nair. Bangalore. (Listener and Viewer)