Akashvani Voice in the A.I.R.

Anindita Mazumder

Just three decades ago, morning in every household in Calcutta began with the melancholic and brooding signature tune of Akashvani. And the ushering in of the devipaksha was never complete without the rich baritone voice of Birendra Krishna Bhadra and the mellifluous rendition by Supriti Ghosh. When you talk of the radio, you hardly think of Marconi; instead the legendary voice of Bhadra wafts in as you oscillate in that no man’s land of slumber and awakening.

And Akashvani is not only about Mahisasurmardini, successive generations since 1930s had grown up with its popular programmes like Galpadadu-r Asar, Sishumahal, Sangeet Shiksha-r Asar, Anurodh-er Asar, Mahila Mahal. It also created a fine ear for Western music among its listeners with its broadcasts of musical programmes and discussions. Truly it followed its motto of ‘Bahujan Hitaya Bahujan Sukhaya’ (wellbeing and happiness of larger section of people) to the hilt.

Radio broadcasting began in India in 1927 as a private amateur venture, with two transmitters in Bombay and Calcutta – seven months after the formation of British Broadcasting Corporation in UK as a public funded organisation. The Calcutta station of the Indian Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) initially opened at Temple Chambers but shifted base to 1 Garstin Place behind the St John’s Church before finally shifting to the Akashvani Bhawan in 1958.

Broadcasting began on August 26, 1927, with mostly European and Indian music and dialogues, for about three to four hours every day. The pioneers included CC Wallick who was the first station director; Nripendranath Majumdar was the producer of Indian programmes with Raichand Boral as one of his assistants, the other being Rajendranath Sen, also a footballer with the Mohun Bagan Club. But IBC went into liquidation by March 1930 and a reluctant Indian Government nationalised it following public pressure, placing it under Labour and Industries department. On June 8, 1936, the Indian State Broadcasting Service was changed to All India Radio (AIR). Gradually, AIR in Calcutta became a hub of cultural activity.

It was appropriate that the AIR which was renamed Akashvani would be housed in the iconic landmark building, located at one end of Maidan beside Eden Gardens, the cricketing Mecca. A post-Independence building it was designed by the firm, Ballardie, Thompson and Mathews. The architecture follows Indo-Sarcenic style in the footsteps of Lutyens-Baker. The ‘Mughal’ effect comes with the use of red sandstone similar to structures in Agra, Lahore, or Peshawar. The perforated grilles are reminiscent of the eminent mosques in the city. The motifs seen in the ornamental brackets, featuring hanging bells in stone, are throwbacks to Lutyens and Baker. The three-dimensional Bengali script which graces the entrance is an artwork in itself. It forms a virtual fence of words which curves with the wall itself. The entrance, following the lead of Lutyens’ Baroda and Hyderabad Houses in New Delhi, is at the centre of a concave partial circle. The red sandstone effect is confined to the ground floor while the majority of the six storey structure is painted in a sort of pearly grey, similar to the Eastern Railway building. Two shallow domes are mounted on the roof above the main entrance. Interestingly, their lines are inspired by structures belonging to the Delhi Sultanate period and even reminiscent of Sher Shah’s mausoleum in Sasaram, Bihar.

Radio emerged as the hub of cultural activity particularly offering patronage to Indian Classical musicians, bringing their music close to the masses even as the princely states disappeared from the geographical map of India. Musicians like Karamatullah Khan, Amir Khan, Muhammad Sagiruddin Khan, Laddan Khan, Gyanprakash Ghosh, VG Jog, Punkaj Mullick, Krishnachandra De and innumerable gems of the city’s music circle were associated with AIR. Tagore composed a poem – Akashvani. Satyajit Ray gave a series of talks on Western Music. Kazi Nazrul Islam, Kazi Sabyasachi, Birendrakrishna Bhadra, Bani Kumar, Bela Dey, Indira Devi, Jayanta Choudhuri, Victor Banerjee, Dhritiman Chatterji and Soumitra Chatterjee had been associated with AIR. Radio plays gained popularity and noted actors and directors like Utpal Dutta, Ritwik Ghatak, Ajitesh Banerjee, Sambhu Mitra also were involved in various productions. Given their rich legacy it is truly unfortunate that in recent times Akashvani Kolkata has suffered with the decline in popularity of radio and is unable to attract such illustrious talent pool anymore.