I am sure that what I write below will find a resonance with quite a few readers who are senior citizens.
An electro-mechanical contraption, sometimes as big as a 21-inch television set, vanished from the scene altogether some three decades ago — giving way to smaller devices, gradually reduced and ultimately miniaturised to a shirt-pocket size. Yes, I mean the big radio of yesteryear powered by vacuum tubes, ironically called valves, metamorphosing into a wonder creation of semi-conductor technology called pocket radios or transistors. Finally, the entry of TV into the drawing room has vanquished the dignified and respectable presence of the radio in middle class homes in what can be termed the tragedy of decent entertainment at home.
Those were the days when the only medium of entertainment was the ubiquitous radio — which delivered a judicious mix of news, music, plays (both one act and serials), discussions, quiz programmes, sound track of films, cricket commentaries, and what not! I can still recall the famous comedian Nagesh acting in many radio serials before entering films.
Who can ever forget the excellent broadcast quality of the BBC World Service, and Voice of America and their coverage for any oversees news?
Ball-to-ball running commentary of cricket Test matches was one of the most popular ‘watched' programmes of the period up to 1970s before TV took over live telecast. Those were days of five-day Test matches which were played in Delhi, Calcutta , Kanpur, Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai). The Madras test was always scheduled for the second week of January when Pongal holidays at a stretch for a week brought life to a standstill with the large cricket crazy crowds breathing cricket for a full five days. The commentaries were a real feast to the ears and imagination of the viewers who could visualise every ball being bowled and played through the brilliant commentators — each of them had an inimitable style of his own. Those who were regular listeners of cricket commentaries of the 1950s and 1960s could nostalgically recall the commentaries of Chakrapani (who was also an English news reader in All India Radio then for some time), Devraj Puri, Berry Sarbadhikary, Maharajkumar of Vijaynagar (popularly known as Vizzy), and, of course, P. Anand Rau (of the Dasaprakash group of hotels). Anand Rau always greeted the listeners, in his breezy and friendly voice, right on the first day with the first ball bowled at the Chepauk stadium in Madras.
Another popular station, Radio Ceylon, used to broadcast in many Indian languages — Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu, besides Hindi. Five decades ago, Radio Ceylon was the most popular broadcaster for Tamil and Hindi film songs, and its popularity was more due to its impeccable style of presentation of programmes, which included a variety of songs — both old and new — to suit every listener's tastes.
Who can ever forget the one and only Binaca Geet Mala, anchored by one of the most celebrated presenter Amin Sayani, on Wednesday night every week, at 8 p.m. which went on for years together? There were no rating surveys then and, I am sure, had they been done, Geet Mala would have beaten all previous and subsequent records for a popular programme ever!
When one talks about anchors — or ‘radio jockeys' as they are fashionably called now — Radio Ceylon had a long list of excellent ones — especially Tamil broadcasters, beginning from Mayilvahanan Sarvanandha of the 1950s to several others who patronisingly imitated his superb style of presentation. Among them one who stands out even today is B.H. Abdul Hameed — who currently is doing many TV programmes and is one of the most versatile presenter ever to come on the scene. None can fail to notice his graceful and fluent presentation in flawless and eloquent Tamil free from any English word — or Tanglish which many of the jockeys merrily indulge in these days — and always spliced with very rare and yet unknown details of any personality whom he happens to present as the celebrity of the day.
The radio is gone forever to posterity except for a few diehard devotees like me who still cling to it for whatever that is left of it. Of course, it has been resurrected in another avatar as FM (frequency modulation) with a very limited bandwidth and range — which is no match to the erstwhile radio box with its three-band range in which one could “surf and download” several national and international stations from America to Europe and from Beijing to Radio Australia in the far-east with a tiny knob for navigation of the dial!
(The writer's email is: vnatrajan2001@yahoo.co.in)
Keywords: radio, transistor, radio FM
Gramaphones & Radios will remain for ever so long as 'rasikas' survive.And Mr. Natarajan deserves our wholehearted applause for his efforts in rekindling the overwhelming joy of having a Radio throughout our life time.
Nice nostalgic article. Though I lived with Radio only for few years (born 1975) as TV was gradually taking over, I still remember spending time with the Radio that we had; my brothers would climb up to set the wire mesh that acts as antenna / receiver for getting better signal. I have listened to numerous cricket commentaries as owning a TV was still a luxury and enjoyed the Thamizh commentaries as well. The wire mesh used to be sensitive; can hear strange sounds when bikes are driven nearby and mixers operate in the kitchen or nearby neighbourhood.
And how can one forget the most interesting and mother of all quiz programes..."The Bourvita Quiz Contest" every Sunday afternoon!
I don't know how to express my gratitude to Natarajan having taken me to reminiscences of Radios as a part of my life. Indeed I was enjoying his article word by word and memories were penetrating right from childhood. To supplement, let me narrate an incident when all my children & our servant boy used to flock together before the radio to listen to Bonvitta quiz contest on Sundays at 12 noon as a ritual.To everyone's surprise the boy could give the right answer 'Pattaudi' to the quiz master.Later in life my sons were successfully competing in the quiz programmes conducted on an all India basis. And there was a program 'What is the good word?' in English which was equally popular! I became a connoisseur in Carnatic music & Hindi ghazals through AIR. This is the influence of Radio in real life. Gramaphones & Radios are born twins and are immortal!
being 63+ i cant but plunge into the floodgates of nostalgia.Thanks to Mr Natarajan. I have to add my peps. It was PYE pe40 model of yr 1952. The model had to be imported and was actually meant for South American countries and its tuning dial contained only names of stations there .With 8 bands spread Madras was available at 41.90in the morning and Radio Anna will visit us at 31.28 and and isaivizha will be heard at 60.95cricket commentries in the short wave My knowledge of cricket was initiated by these radio comentries only.(my adored teacher Shri S.Naraynan of Aravangadu cordite school who was our neighbour and when power was not available he used come to my home for listening commentry.Believe it or not he made meticulous note of all movements of score in details and it was a hobby for him and he practiced this for years and kept a huge records.) The serials like kappukkati chatram and Dubash veedu are all immortal to say the least.(I could not complete due to lack of apace)!
thanks to sri natarajan for taking us down memory's lane.
I can remember the vivid descriptions of commentator S. Sanyal.
Who will forget Lala Amarnath's 'catches win matches' in expert comments. As a schoolgirl I had a dream of stepping into the shoes of madame Latika Ratnam, but faded after a few years.
I would eagerly wait for Brain of Britain, Just a minute and short stories from around the world in BBC World Service.
This is one thing I can't forget. I solved a simple number puzzle; learnt I had won a transistor radio as a consolation prize; when the packet arrived my dad became poorer by Rs. 100 or so for my joy of having a radio set.(no doubt a game plan of the corruption enabled system of the yester years).
Even now the transistor is a standby during dull times to cheer me up.
Vive la radio.
In my school years, there was no electricity in the remote village of Tanjore Dist. where we lived. The day we got electricity and the street lights came on, the whole village eruped with joy. Our house was the first to have had a tubelight. The term of a 'village tube light' should be seen to be believed - the tube light would flicker for ages before emitting full brightness. My 'Chithappa' brought a wooden cabinet 'Resa' radio from Kumbakonam for use in my house. With the radio on, and some of us, kids on the swing ('oonjal') listening to the Sunday 'Neengal Kettavai' film songs ('Missiamma'), well, those days were something to be relished. My dad used to keenly follow the cricket commentary on the radio, apart from carnatic music recitals. Those days, we didn't have the material comforts of today, but all the same, the life, with few wants, was fulfilling and of sublime nature.
I am missing the radio programs of old days. I used to listen to Radio Ceylon, Radio Kuwait, Radio Australia, Radio Netherlands, BBC, VOA, Deutshe Welle plus AIR etc regularly until 1985.The commentary on the radio is unmatchable.... I have sent song requests to Australian Mission Delhi to play songs via the MAIL BAG option months in advance. I requested songs to commemorate JAN 26th the day INDIA and AUSTRALIA celebrate Republic day and Australia Day respectively. I now rely on you tube to catch up with some these old names... Thanks to the Samaritans who uploaded small snippets of such shows....
Who ever can forget the special programme for children of those days titled Paappaa Malar by Radio Anna, from AIR Madras, which was an attraction for not only the children but elders too! Similarly in many houses the opening tunes in the early morning hours made alarms irrelevant! At the end of the day, normally by 10.00 pm, if my memory is right, when the announcer says, Iththudan ' inraiya nigazhchigal mudivadainthana' it would be like parting our dearest friend! Where can we go for such peaceful days with the least number of doctors, hospitals, medical shops and diagnostic labs ( no body would have heard such labs in thier surroundings) are those good old days when we are racing for the fastest ' rate of growth' at any cost?development' possible, at any cost?
Yes, we recall the music tone before the news and then the scramble among family members to tell who will be the news reader .... those days, very much nostalgic, can it be recreated ....
As a seventh standard student in the late 1950s, I shared the joy of my parents till mid night, sittng with them, in a room ( in a home that accommodated 5 families when the joint family and community living culture was at its best of times,where noome knew what it meant intrusion of privacy) appropriately referred to as Radio Room, from wher we would be' taken' by All India Radio,Madras Vaanoli Nilayam, during the 'Isai Vizhaa ' to Raja Annamalai Manram to listen Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar,Madurai Mani Iyer, G. N.Balasubramanian, D.K. Pattammal,M.S.Subulakshmi, M.L.Vasanthakumari and many more such towering stalwarts singing to the accompaniment of violinists like Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu, Mysore T.Chaudiah,and mirudangam by Umayalpuram Sivaraman and on the ghatam by Thiruvilvamalai Vilvathri Iyer not to omit nathaswaram by T.N. Rajarathnam Pillai and Karukurichi brothers. With mouthful of betal leaves my father was always quick to identify the Raaga at the commencement. Hmmm!
Thanks Mr Natarajan V, for kindling the thoughts.Your excellent article n AIR and Radio Ceylon revives my school days. few names you have not listed are added without any offence.Hamid sayani of Binaca geetmala who was succeeded by Amin sayani.Sunil dutt who started his life as RJ before acting in films. AIR news readers, Roshan Menon, Surajit Sen-who was also a cricket commentator,Steven charrier and Winston charrier. Pearson Surita of AIR Calcutta, Tamil News readers from AIR Delhi, Poornam Viswanathan,Lakshmi etc.,These names I remember.
By the way I still listen to Radio at Chennai yes FM and AM both for carnatic music right from 4 am.
Wonder that the writer has forgot to mention Mrs.Dharmambal who was very popular in the South East asian countries through AIR Overseas Tamil programme during yester years and Sankar Anna-Sankarmoorthy of BBC Tamilosai, Ananthy,a Sri lankan Tamil of BBC Tamil osai of those days.Mahilvahanan of Radio Ceylon Tamil service was a pioneer in this aspect. Devi Sankaree of Lotus FM of Durban (South Afica) is also a popular tamil-english broadcaster. broad ca They had their own admirers in large numbers in those days.They did yeomen service in spreading the tamil through waves.
Good ol' days where nascent technology had a major impact but kept things simple. I say, listeners did not bother about choice (as in today's world of a zillion channels in every direction you look), because what was on air and on offer was so very good, one was tuned in and never wanted out. Quality Vs Quantity!! I still love the radio as much but have to comb thru several stations and presenters to cherry pick the best. Great article. Thank you.
Can never forget those days, when my ears were used to cling on to the radio set waiting for "Geetmala" to play its collection full of golden melodies. I still remember how I used to wake of before 7 in the morning only to listen ear freshening "BIbidh bharati". Even the BBC broadcast news and shows like voice of America were very interesting. The ball to ball cricket commentary also had a different flavor of thriller attached to it. Even today in this insane era of plethora of electronic gadgets, people still feel for lost time of that bygone era; the spell bounding memory of radio is still a hangover for me! Perhaps availability of more of technology or abundance of options lessens the pleasure and excitement. Hence,"a happy life never blossoms in abundance but always in scarcity".
The article brings back many more pleasant childhood memories in its wake..when life was not ruled by T.V. programmes but moved at a slow, relaxed pace..There was discipline as T.V. shows started only around 6 p.m. which meant that after school there was enough time for home work and outdoor games (and there was space in the neighbourhood to play without having to avoid cars and bikes). Visits to (or from) friends or relatives on a holiday were a pleasurable activity and not a dreaded chore...A milk chocolate was something that you were rewarded when you did particularly well in school...Sigh..and now those days are never to return, and our lives will forever be engulfed in consumerism, until one day it consumes us!
It is meeaningful cartoon. Radio has gone and it will never come back. Even transistors are not seen. Now remixed old songs are in demand. Geetamaalaa sponsor Binaca toothpaste vanished long back. Radio Cylone is no more heard. New generation does not have time and patience to tune in to radio. Youths have latest devices to access songs. There are 24x7 channels to know latest.
Cricket Commentary during 60s and 70s was a very great experience for us. We were students of Govt.Arts College now kaide Millath in the 1961 and 5 of us were studying PUC there and we were Cricket fantics.We wanted India to win all matches but India was almost always at the receiving end.Pankaj Roy and Vinoo mankad used to open Indian batting facing the fastest Gilchrist and Hall without helmets.Mind you, Roy was bespectacled and was never hurt.Such was the technique with which they played the game.No TV in those days and we were depending uoon the Radio only.During College working days we used to go to a small radio shop to listen to the commentary.The shop owner would soon switch off the set and used to tell us one valve was repaired.He would say that the cost of the valve was 5Rs and we used to forego our lunch and part with the money.He would further say that he was hungry and we would get him masala dosai from the nearby Swamy's Cafe in Mount Rd.Afterr all this he would switch on the radio for us!
On Saturdays at 10 PM - we had Beatles, Trini Lopez's Lemon Tree, Elvis' Jailhouse Rock, Doris Day's Lipstick on your collar, Tom Jones.
"Naa Nenacche, Nee Vodaneye Elidivitte"! I fully ECHO your 'ODE' - for my memories-ears still 'listen' to ALL that you have said - on a FAITHFUL GE-3Valve radio !!
Yes,the Philips radio with the record player built in, in that shiny wodden cabinet and pride of all homes, died a sad demise. In its second avatar it came back as 'world space' sattelite radio,till it also had a tragic end in the finanacial collapse of it USA parent.Now,in its third avatar it is amongst us as the Internet Radio, and one can have same joys and thrill of countless stations in a Logitech slingbox radio or using itunes!! Nothing can replace the static hiss and the gradual fade of the shortwave signal in a radio,but come on, we live in a changing world and if we can get the same happiness in the endless hours of non stop music and more importantly Geoff Boycott live in Radio 5 cricket on BBC through the internet, we relive the nostalgia of the old with the prolific gadgetry of the new age.
Great article! Surely brings memories of bygone days. Who could forget the great artists from Trichy Station. Veerammal etc., The rivetting katha Kalachebams of Kripananda Variar, Embar Vijaya Raghavachariar,etc.,then those AIR news readers from Delhi.. Melville D Mellow and the lady Lucy karatnam ( I am spelling these names the way I used to hear them at 9.00 PM). For some us who did not go to English medium schools, the news was a great way to improve our pronunciation and diction. Also who could forget the VOA's break-fast shows and Chinese Tamil stations which was a favorite of my grandfather. The English programs from Radio Ceylon that catered to the Anglo-Indian Community with the Birth day greetings was another popular one. Some of the songs of yester years like the 'lemon Tree' and 'obla-de Obla da' etc,, I surely miss that 50 year old 'Sharp Junkar' box. Whenever I visit India I dust it off and turn it on and enjoy whatever is left of it. Still works! Thanks Natarajan.
Please Email the Editor