Radio- The medium of Communication

The theme for the 12th edition of the World Radio Day, today, 13 February 2023, is

 "Radio and Peace".

Radio has always been the most preferred mode of communication that is very mobile and portable - it means that it can be carried to anywhere alongwith, due to its portability and size that made it convinient to carry. Memory of a radio goes back to anyone's childhood of our age and yes the radio in transistor has taken place in this age too in mobile phones, vehicles as well. The radio FM  in mobile phones.

The old vintage Radio.

Here's a picture that's quite similar to the radio that used to be at home if not the same color or the make but the look of a table radio.with speakers wide across and knobs to change the bandwidth.

(pic credit:Google)

 

My memory of a radio and transistor goes back to my childhood since early 70s when we had a table radio that would start with the morning vandanas and then news. I was too young to handle that but then gradually as i grew up there was this National Panasonic transistor that was handled by my elder sisters who would listen to the radio.

This is the National Panasonic transistor that we used to listen , the Binaca Geet Mala,which later became the Cibaca Geet Mala. that was a weekly,apart from the morning news, bhajans and other songs in various bands.

Binaca Geetmala was a weekly broadcasted film songs from Hindi cinema on Radio Ceylon from 1952 to 1988 and then shifted to the Vividh Bharati Service of All India Radion in 1989 till 1994.

 It was compered by the Mr. Amin Sahani.

Its a two speaker transistor with a tuning battery and the indicator that had 3 defined bands the 

National Panasonic Model R-357D with  frequency range with 3 D size batteries capacity.

MW - Medium Wave,SW1 - Short Wave,SW2 - Short Wave which was controlled by a 3 band knob to the down right of the transistor.

The upper knob directed the indicator controlling the tuning. the second knob is the fine tuning.

To the left were the on off- volume control, tone.

An extendable ariel to the top left to catch the bandwidth. 

At the left top corner is a white small switch for dial light.

The transistor had an earphone. And used to run with batteries.

The wait for every week Binaca geetmala, the countdown hindi film songs, and the top song would make the day.

Not only songs, news even the cricket commentry became the much heard game live broadcast that would keep every other individual who posessed a radio transistor would even carry on the move whether on vehicle, or a bicycle or on the walk. Almost every Indians favourite game the commentry became the much wider coverage of the game live and listened on the point. 

This small handy Philips transistor was my favourite that I bought while I was in my post graduation. Bought to listen to news and music. The look is the same as it was then.However, gradually the radio listeners declined because of the television that revolutionized every home, replacing the radio that was only a listeners' choice once to the audio-visual system. The mode of media and visual quite apparntly became the preferred choice with multiple channels. Nevertheless, Radio definitely was more focussed because the audio reception being considered faster than video. As NeuroScientist Seth Horowitz. "You hear anywhere from 20 to 100 times faster than you see."

 

But then the radio/transistor will always have a special place. Due to its wider coverage and less diverted. It definitely relaxed one's mood. 

The theme of the year  2022 edition of World Radio Day was  "Radio and Trust". 

Lata Mangeshkar - The Nightingale of India

 

Lata Mangeshkar, was better known as the nightingale of India. A voice that reached millions and millions of hearts across the world. She remained an icon and the divine blessed with Maa Saraswati on this earth.Though she has left this world but has definitely found a place amongst the Gods. The name itself Lata Mangeshkar is larger than life. She will remain through her music, her soft spoken and melodious voice in the hearts of millions.  

As a child, her name was familiar in our house, like in every other home. Her soft voice, her songs has been heard over and over again through the transistors, in cinemas and her live performances that we watched on the television. We find ourselves fortunate having watched her interviews on the television and having watched her singing live on the television. I am one amongst the millions fans of Lata Ji. I remember having seated on the verandah of our house when I was a child and I use to listen to the songs played in the cinema hall during the running of the movie Shor. One such song thats my all time favourite "Ek pyar ka nagma" which I used to listen intensely and it kept looping in my head.

"Ek Pyar ka nagma hai" casting Manoj Kumar and Nanda and the song sung by Lata Mangeskar and Mukesh. Movie 'Shor'

Now the list of songs will go on and on.... just to note down a few here

Tere bina zindegi se koi, from Aandhi

Kahin door jab din dhal jaye from Anand

Piya Bina Piya Bina ( Abhimaan)

Sun re pawan, pawan pur (Anurag)

Naam ghum jayega (Kinara)

O Basanti (Jis desh mein Ganga Beheti hai)

Kahin deep jale kahin dil (Bees saal baad)

E Malik tere ( Do Aankhen Barah Haath).......the list goes on

Excerpts from some of her interviews with various Media 

In one of her interview she had said "Given a chance to be born again, she would not like to be born as Lata Mangeshkar because she only knows what it is like to be born as Lata Mangeshkar and what all problems and difficulties that she had to face.

She always said her voice was gift of God and her natural talent was 75% and the rest was the hardwork, riyaz.

She said she ate curd, chilli, pickle and that there was nothing as not to eat or fussy about keeping one's voice. But she was however disciplined in food of course. Her father used to advise that the voice should keep working well. 

She also said that the spirit in music that was earlier is no longer the same. The 1940s-70s was a very good period in the singing sphere. Not many of us know that Lata Mangeshkar was once rejected because of her thin voice. Ayega ane wala was the song she quite symbolizes with those period.

Amongst Patriotic, her first song was Vande Mataram.Her song Ae mere watan ki logon... on 26th Jan 1963 which brought tears in the eyes of PM Jawaharlal Nehru brought tears in the eyes of Pt. Jawarharlal Nehru. 

She never used to sing before her father but always before her mother. At the age of 4 or 5 yrs she said she heard a song, which a student of her father was singing she went on to correct the student and then her father heard and then he realized that he had a singer at home. And she started learning from her father.

Coming from a very conservative family. Her father had a drama company. At the age of 9 yrs old while in solapur in the drama company , there was a classical program going to be held in the theatre and on hearing that she requested her father, she would sing thambavati raag which he taught, and he agreed then she was allowed to sing first. 

In an interview, she said that her First song recorded in 1942 March a Marathi film to which her father first denied her singing into films, but when his friend who composed the music insisted and then she sang but then in April her father Dinanath Mangeskar expired. Her life changed thereon, she started working, she was offered to act in movies at a very young age, she was paid Rs.300 having worked and sang in the film.

Eartler she started acting because she had to run the familly after her father's death. Playback career started ar the age of 15 or 16. In 1947  she started playback singing . Initially since she was too young she could hardly understand how things went she would go for recording and even without having any food. She had no knowledge about the canteen for food and tea. Her struggle marked she would walk down to the studio for recording. 

Yet in another interview she says that Bombay Talkies has a special meaning to her. Her playback singing started in Bombay talkies.

She started her acting career but never liked it because she never liked  the make-up and all. And she always wanted to sing. Though initially she was rejected because of her thin voice. Ayega ane wala her first breakthrough song of Mahal. She became too busy. As were the news around Lata Mangeshkar didn't allow other singers to sing but she herself very well has made it clear that she never blocked any other singer or singers from singing. However, the purity in her songs that she sang from the soul has always given a clear message to listeners and music lovers that she cannot do such a thing. 

For music lover like us, what would be her fault if music composers and directors would choose songs that would suit only her voice. 

She even said that she never sung for music director O P Nayyar because he thought her voice never suit his music. 

So with around 25000 to 30,000 songs in her career time.She sang different type of songs with music composers like S D Burman, RD Burman to AR Rehman. 

In the new generation composers she worked with  A R Rehman  and amongst singers she liked Singers Sonu Nigam and Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Sunidhi Chauhan who sings quite differently.

    The Melody Queen

In this picture she says she is a fan of Sachin Tendulkar.

The reaction of Sachin Tendulkar is very obvious.

Some facts not known about Lata Ji.Apart from music Lata ji  had interest in Cricket and PhotographyLata ji was passonate about cricket and she also said she was a fan of Sachin Tendulkar. Her contribution to post '83 shows her love for cricket.

Lata ji was very fond of  photograpy and loved to click photographs.An outstanding photographer that she was.

The Photographer

Lata Mangeshkar, the Nightingale of India lives on..............

She is divine, she is immoral.

This was a sketch I tried on 29th September 2019

(All Pic credit: Google)