A few months ago, I had written about a radio program aired on AIR (All India Radio), titled “Manthan”.

Another program that the Mrs. and I try to catch if we are driving back during that time is Hawa Mahal, which is also aired on AIR (102.9 FM) at 8 pm every week day.

Hawa Mahal showcases 15 minutes radio plays written by various play writers. These are usually repeats of what has been broadcasted over the past many years, some of them dating back 20 – 25 years ago.

Most of these plays try to address social mindsets which prevailed at that time. Widow re-marriage, scarcity of jobs and other such issues which the middle class faced in the late 70s and early 80s of India. The best thing about the plays is they way they are rendered. A lot of attention is given to minute of details. The rattling of tea cups when a prospective bride serves tea to the visiting boy, the sounds of busy markets in the backgrounds when a babu goes shopping for his wife – all these make for a great session of play listening. It takes you back to an era away from the modern day India where the joys of living were simple and desires of men and women were easily met within the constraints of an evolving and struggling society.

The next time you are stuck in traffic and want an escape route to go back to an era that you only faintly remember through memories of brilliant serials like Nukkad and Buniyaad, go ahead and switch to All India Radio at 8 pm. Those 15 minutes will be well worth your time.

Related to Dhionlyone’s previous post on why all radio channels play the same music and nothing else, there was an E&Y survey article in the Mint a few days back that gave a reasonable explanation for the same. The issue here is that TRAI allows every station only a single frequency in each location. With this constraint in place, and all of them wanting to grab the same customer pie, these stations don’t have much choice (or imagination) than to play the same songs and air the same kind of programs that appear to have mass appeal.

According to the survey, the most popular items are bollywood songs and least popular are English songs and quiz shows. No wonder radio channels seem to avoid the latter like the plague. Allowing stations to broadcast on multiple channels would allow more scope for diversification and enable them to cater to niche segments and tastes. With more freedom in this domain, they would be more willing to experiment, hopefully.

Also, as we know, FM radio channels are currently banned from broadcasting news, which again limits their scope of offerings. TRAI has now recommended that these channels be allowed to broadcast news using content from AIR, Doordarshan and some other authorised news agencies, which is certainly good ‘news’ for people like me!

Find the link for the last bit of news here.

Commuting with the radio switched on can become cumbersome at times. More so when all radio stations play the same songs all the the time and there is absolutely no substance dished out by any of the over-excited RJs.

Over the past few days, however, I listen to the radio in anticipation of this beautiful song that has caught my fancy. It is from the movie Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Nah and I must say it is simply awesome.

Click here to listen to the song (the video is nothing much to write about).

On an unrelated note, why does none of the radio stations do anything other than play songs? Why not some half hour (atleast!) opinions on serious issues or even debates on various topics?

The Hindi RJs on Vividhbharathi (AIR) channel are so good and impeccable in their delivery and language. They speak pure and chaste Hindi and it is a delight to hear them.
However, the English RJs on that very channel are incredibly poor in their diction.

Take the other private channels belonging to the 90 point series FM. All Hindi RJs on them are pathetic and sound like they are close cousins of Tom Alter. And the English ones on these very channels are pretty good.

Probably AIR and the private FM channels need to go on an exchange program of sorts.

Customised radio station on last.fm. Click play and enjoy.