Akashvani – Radio and Thunder!
When I woke up it was raining, St. Peter and St. Paul were definitely playing football, I could hear the ball rolling around, believe me it was really loud. Some akashvani, I wondered. I buried my face in my pillow with a groan and sent up a prayer to God asking for the rain to stop. I had to go to Jaipur. It was a big day for me. For days I had been working on the talk I was going to deliver. The topic, an extremely relevant one was difficult to prepare for. Now, I don’t say it was difficult to write about, what I mean is, it was difficult to write so as to hold the wavering attention of the present day audience who decides within a span of thirty seconds whether they want you hear you or not. With coming of digitalization there are so many options to pick and choose that you need to ‘up your game’ to ‘stay in’.
Anyway, God must’ve heard me (Thank God! No messages to Him go without blue ticks and a reply). I’m sure He told St. Peter and St. Paul to take a break. The clouds stopped rumbling and grumbling, there was no more tumbling to be heard and the rain too petered out to a steady drizzle and finally stopped. The great sprinklers had been switched off for now. My mother, sister, and brother-in-law raced around preparing for the journey. My little nephew, Ethan took it cool calling out his demands for breakfast, his potty routine and other things I find cute (but not his mother, especially when she wanted him to hurry up so that we could leave before it started raining again). I went about my work, half in a day dream rehearsing the words, absentmindedly eating and then dressing. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember what I ate for breakfast after I had!
Anyway, the driver was punctual and we managed to leave on time. It was a rainy day with the sprinklers from the sky coming on time and again. Dark clouds hung really low and provided the best opportunity to make some beautiful videos. The scenery on either side of the highway was a feast for the eyes; the greenery was so soothing and refreshing. Lady Punctuality was holding us in great favour and we reached the Akashvani Jaipur premises on time. Ma’am Reshma Khan, the Programme Head warmly welcomed us and led us to the recording studio. It felt awesome to walk down the corridor and gaze at the rooms where magic was created. Ma’am Khan explained about what we were going to do and how it was to go through.
This charismatic lady pushed open the door to the recording studio, all the while keeping up a casual conversation and I drew in a deep breath. All the earlier recordings I had done in the last ten years with Sir Enosh for various school events and videos flashed before my eyes. This was HUGE! We were now joined by the recording technician and after the introductions and a few clicks with my family and the presenter (Ma’am Khan) it was time to get to work.
I looked at the soundproof walls, the headphones and mics on the table... It felt so natural, even if it felt great! A zing began somewhere in my veins and coursed through my entire body, I felt goose bumps. After a quick prayer to the Almighty I announced I was ready. Ma’am Reshma introduced the show and the speaker in a voice so sweet, it was simply amazing. I felt I could hear her speaking endlessly. Next, it was my turn to speak and by God’s grace it went like a dream with hardly any hitch. Ma’am Reshma then gave a fitting conclusion and the technician gave a thumbs up signalling all was good.
My family nodded from the technician’s room to say that it was good. I breathed a sigh of relief as a heard my voice over the headphones when the technician played a part of my talk. Ma’am Khan congratulated me and led us back to the reception area, still keeping up a steady conversation effortlessly. I can say I was in awe of this lady who had dedicated 35 years of her life to All India Radio. After we bid her goodbye, we went around the premises.
The rain had washed away all the dust, the trees dressed in their best green outfits waved their fronds happily, the gulmohar trees displayed their bright red blossoms and the peacocks showed off their dancing skills with ornamental fan-like tails, held high. My nephew couldn’t contain his excitement and cheered eagerly. Parrots, mynas, bulbuls and the house-sparrows sang their own songs with delight among the many trees. It was almost quarter of an hour later that we made an exit and the car slid into the mad rush on the street. It felt like entering into another world altogether.
When we turned homewards in the evening, the sky was painted with delightful shades by the setting sun and I thanked the Heavenly Father for His showers of blessings. It’s a popular belief that if it rains when you begin something new or set out to do something for the first time, it’s God pouring down His graces and blessing your efforts. I smiled as I looked out of the moving car and admired the changing colours of the heavens.
By the way, when I received the invitation from Akashvani, I had made a quick research about this national public radio broadcaster. Formerly, of course it was known as All India Radio but since 1957 it came to be officially called Akashvani meaning ‘Voice from the Sky’. It was established on 8th June (which also happens to be my birth date, I was chuffed like anything to note that) in 1936, 87 years ago. It is a division of Prasar Bharti and is available both Nationally and Internationally. Akashvani, is the largest radio network in the world, is also one of the largest broadcasting organisations in terms of number of languages broadcast and the spectrum of socio-economic and cultural diversity it caters to. It is said that All India Radio was rechristened Akashvani by none other than India’s Nobel Laureate in Literature, Rabindranath Tagore. He had penned a poem for the inauguration of Kolkota’s shortwave service and used the word ‘Akashvani’ in it, referring to ‘the voice that comes over from the skies’. As I’m a great fan of his works, this was another reason that my heart sang when I entered the premises that day.
I can go on and on and on... but I need to stop now. It’s somewhat with a shock I have just realized that in the excitement of speaking about the experience I’ve forgotten to tell you the topic of the talk and the date and time when you can listen to me. So, dear friends, you can hear me speaking on 18th July 2023 at 8:45 a.m. on the topic - ‘The Power of The Empowered Woman.’ Please click on the link to listen in. And yes, there’s a delightful surprise for all women and literature lovers at the end of the Talk. So, sit put!
Ahh... before I wind up this write-up, I have to say a big thank you to someone who has spared valuable time to chat with me and clear the clouds of doubt while I was penning my talk. Any guesses? Well, it’s none other than, Poornima Kapoor. Thank you dear girl, for everything! As I told you earlier, you’re God’s blessing!
Dear readers, I will look forward to your valuable feedback once you follow the program and listen in.
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