Down memory lanes where the radio still echoes

September 29, 2014 09:45 am | Updated 09:45 am IST - KOCHI:

Poet Chemmanam Chacko (right) and Balakrishnan Koyyal, Director, AIR, Kochi, at the radio friends meet conducted by the All Kerala Radio Listeners Association held in Kakkanad on Sunday. Photo: Thulasi Kakkat

Poet Chemmanam Chacko (right) and Balakrishnan Koyyal, Director, AIR, Kochi, at the radio friends meet conducted by the All Kerala Radio Listeners Association held in Kakkanad on Sunday. Photo: Thulasi Kakkat

It was a walk down the lanes of 1970s and 80s, recalling voices that wove their magic into the tapestry of radio programmes. The radio then did not just air programmes, they stuck nails on the wall of sound to hang memories on.

Though the days when people gathered around a radio set to listen to their favourite programmes have become a part of history, the creed of those who tune in faithfully to the All India Radio is still active.

On Sunday, about 100 such ‘radio friends’ from different parts of Kerala, under the aegis of the Akhila Kerala Radio Listeners Association, gathered at the PWD Rest House in Kakkanad to relive the glorious days of the past. Poet Chemmanam Chacko, an avid radio listener himself, inaugurated the event.

The event was organised on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the AIR Kochi station on November 1 this year. Many of those who attended the event had become fans of the radio station by writing letters. Prompt replies from the station ensured that they developed a kind of emotional relationship with the radio station.

Motheenkunju Thrikkakara, president of the AKRLA, still remembers the first time he got a radio. He would tune the radio in all possible ways to reach stations that played Malayalam programmes and went on to become such a fan of it that he wrote several letters to radio stations across the State and even won prizes for it.

“In addition to playing favourites and dedications, it took pages of our ordinary days and through microphone magic, made them dazzle and electric. It painted the backdrop for the heartbeat of a young nation,” he recounted.

For M.P. Poulose Master, radio is an unusually intimate medium as listening is nearly always a solitary pursuit. Having grown up admiring the programmes such as Yuvavani and Balalogam, he still remembers how people used to talk about those programmes. “We used to seek out others who shared our enthusiasm,” he said.

Balakrishnan Koyyal, director of the Akashavani Kochi, says they still receive an average of hundred letters daily. “These letters helped improve our ties with the listeners and develop their interest in our programmes,” he says, adding that each of the programmes aired from the station still has a large number of loyal listeners who engage and interact with the station.

The meeting also selected ‘Ganalokaveedhikalil’ — a programme documenting the history of golden Malayalam songs — as the best programme aired by the Kochi station and felicitated B. Vijayakumar, who conceived the programme.

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