AIR IS AIR ; NOTHING CAN SUBSTITUTE IT

Tarun Kanti Rout (54) was born in Baleswar. He took a first class in PG in English from the Ravenshaw College and then completed MPhil in Commonwealth Literature in the Utkal University. He had also his PG in Journalism from the IIMC, New Delhi. Prior to his joining in the All India Radio (AIR), Rout had his brief innings as a Lecturer in English in a Degree College from 1989 to 1991. He received a Fellowship under the Colombo Plan of Government of India and studied radio production at RNTC, Hiversum, the Netherlands in 2000. His radio plays have won critical acclaim and his nomination for PRIX ITALIA twice has added chink unto his armour. Presently, he is Assistant Director at AIR, Cuttack and is also the Head of Programme Management. He bagged the first prize in radio play in AIR annual competition for his Odia play ‘Dhalu’. The play deals with the problems and predicaments of child labour which was nominated from India for the international prize PRIX ITALIA for its artistic brilliance. He was again nominated for PRIX ITALIA for his excellent radio documentary ‘Byadha’ (Butcher) in 1996. The documentary reconstructs the horrors of the World War-II against the backdrop of a dilapidated airport at Rasgovindpur in Mayurbhanj. Rout was also nominated to the 8th International Radio Festival held in Iran in 2007 for his excellent radio play ‘Luna’ (Salt), a fictional account of the vicissitudes of a tribal man against the backdrop of salt making using seawater in Baleswar. He has won critical acclaim for his innovative musicals like 3D Radio and Radio Sulochana. He has brought glory to the AIR, Cuttack by receiving nine times national awards for his unique radio productions. Rout has tried his hands in almost all genres of literature. He has excelled as a playwright, a novelist and a poet. As a poet in English, he experiments with new idioms while depicting life’s varicoloured ways of life. His collections of poems such as ‘River Impasto’ and ‘Twilight Zone’ speak volumes of his poetic sensibilities. Rout is also a brilliant translator. He has translated iconic Odia playwright Manoranjan Das’ play ‘Bitarkita Aparahna’ into English (Afternoon Flurries) with perfect fidelity to the original. In an interview to The Pioneer, Rout spoke to Sugyan Choudhury at the AIR campus, Cuttack.

The All India Radio has got a major role to play throughout the country. Whether it is use of entertainment or radio operative systems, it is still important and indispensable. It is a public service committed department and it has had been rendering yeoman’s job since 1927 in the larger interest of the nation. It covers 99% of India’s population having 415 stations. Where does the question of its redundancy come then? There has been digital convergence or digital revolution in the country. If you can instal it your android mobile then all the programmers of all the languages will be readily available to you. You need not carry a huge television set with you and you can listen to anything and everything by carrying a set of radio, which is handy. The only thing is that radio has to reinvent itself in the context of the people, their lifestyle, their conversation and their rituals. AIR is AIR and nothing can substitute it.

You see, the AIR has got a mandate. The AIR and the Doordarshan have been entrusted with this mandate or specific objective after promulgation the Act of Prasar Bharati since 1997. By this Act, the AIR has to keep in its mind uppermost the unity and integrity of the nation intact together with safeguarding its secular character. The AIR also has a role to provide the last-mile connectivity. Take, for example, what the AIR Cuttack did during the Super Cyclone in 1999 and also the role it played by maintaining a whole-night vigil by providing information and by administering valuable capsules of caution to people as to how they would remain safe, protect themselves and their belongings. Hence, this solemn and sincere service can never be substituted by any other agency.

I belong to the erstwhile Baleswar district, which was later divided into Baleswar and Bhadrak. During my childhood, I was witnessing many opera shows; and that was in the subconscious of my mine. When I joined the AIR, I wanted to experiment with radio plays and how to entice people to it so that they would sit glued to it. Two of my plays were selected for an international show and bagged PRIX ITALIA twice in 1997 and 1999. One of my other plays ‘Luna’ (Salt) was selected for the 8th International Radio Play carnival in Iran and was highly acclaimed. Similarly, in one of my other important plays like ‘Hilsaman’s Boat’, I have depicted the lifestyle and saga of struggle of the fishermen community in a tiny village by the side of the Bay of Bengal. Another play ‘Stara’ (Layer) has also got wide acclaim.

You see, when radio came, people believed that it would remove the print media from the scene. As time progressed, radio supplanted the print media. Similarly when television appeared on the scene, people through that the TV would eclipse the radio and the print media. But now when digital convergence has arrived, people think that the rest are probably gone as each mobile set is a powerful tool of communication. But lo and behold, all these four are supplanting and strengthening one another. Hence, the question of print media to be relegated to the background is something unbelievable.

I believe that some should write when it comes spontaneous. When I write poems, plays or a novel, it comes to me as naturally as leaves to a tree. I believe people should not dabble in writing for writing sake only or should play to the gallery. Believing in the spontaneity is the secret of one’s success.

Source and Credit :-http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/air-is-air-nothing-can-substitute-it.html