World Radio Day: students rule the air waves

Students conduct a live radio programme at All India Radio, Tiruchi, on Thursday.

All India Radio Tiruchi Station commemorated World Radio Day by organising special programmes including segments fully run by students of city schools and colleges.

The programmes, scheduled for Thursday, were curated by station director K. Natarajan to encourage students to take an active interest in radio.

World Radio Day is observed to recognise the contribution of the mass communication medium in providing news and entertainment across all strata of society. In this regard, AIR Tiruchi was doing its part in inculcating the medium in young students, who would benefit from it enormously, said Mr. Natarajan.

The day-long celebration was kicked off, with listeners, including Chandrayaan-1 Project Director Mylswamy Annadurai and DMK MP Tiruchi Siva, recalling their association with radio. Engineers, doctors, farmers spoke of how the radio provided them with information.

Students of SBIOA Matriculation and Higher Secondary School organised a two-hour programme from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. where they sang songs in Tamil, Sanskrit, told riddles, jokes, stories and news for children.

Fifty students from LKG to class 9 took part in the programme. “Our school encouraging radio programmes as we organise a ‘radio programme’ where students discuss current affairs, facts for general knowledge and narrate stories through school intercom on a daily basis. We call the radio 'Sangamam FM," said a teacher of SBIOA Matriculation and Higher Secondary School.

Mr. Natarajan said radio as a means of communication was still active due to its versatility. “The applications of the medium are innumerable. We have got calls from miners who said that they used AIR to decide on whether they should go to the mine. Students listen to news for competitive exams. Listening benefits memory retention," he said.

Students of Urumu Dhanalakshmi College organised a day-long programme of which the 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. slot was broadcast on AIR. “It was a nostalgic experience for students who narrated anecdotes of waking up to the radio singing prayers, watching their parents perform daily chores as the radio played the news,” Mr. Natarajan said.