It's just before 8 pm on a Monday evening. At the moment, FM Rainbow in Goa is broadcasting some programme on rice cultivation, mechanical harvesting and what not.
It is just a relay from its main channel (which has been known for relaying boring, but sometimes socially-relevant, programmes). Would you have bothered to listen to this? I wouldn't too, if not focussed on writing this column.
FM Rainbow is alive. But it's in the ICU. Listeners, me too, are fast losing interest in this deliberately-made-sick ailing patient.
How many days has it been since you last listened to the radio? After the recent controversy, I've kind of lost my enthusiasm of regularly switching on to the FM or the AIR (Akashvani, officially) Mhadei channel.
Till some weeks back, the FM radio entertained listeners across Goa. Not only that, it could be picked up online (via onlineradiofm.in/stations/air-panaji) anywhere in the world.
On WhatsApp groups, we would sometimes share the link to an interesting programme. Friends in the Gulf, UK or other parts of the globe would tune in, and all enjoy the music being played.
Then, things changed.
Local music got a back seat. The FM channel would largely relay programmes from the main channel. Nobody could explain or understand what was going on.
Was this to only affect Goa? Far from it. Some at the Goa AIR (sorry, officially it's now Akashvani) felt it was due to a negative review of the station. Actually, this was affecting all FM stations in diverse parts of the country.
No official statement was forthcoming. There were stray news items here and there. Affected channel announcers were willing to say some things off-the-record. Rest was left to guesswork.
Gerard de Souza, writing in The Hindustan Times, wrote: "The Panaji station will now broadcast a single service with drastic reduction in the slots afforded for regional languages which will instead be replaced by Vividh Bharati programming from Delhi, Mumbai."
A local newspaper presented it as if it was a concern affecting "AIR employees". It wrote: "Content from Mhadei Channel will be simultaneously transmitted on MW and FM for now, at the cost of popular Konkani and English music and entertainment programmes on FM Rainbow, fear AIR employees."
If you checked out the national media online, you would find stray reports on similar issues. For instance, The Hindu wrote: "Ananthapuri FM (Thiruvananthapuram) shuts down without notice, listeners stage protest."
An online appeal went around, and it got signed by a few thousand (over 6,100) people. The appeal, by Priya Naik, raises some issues. It is worth quoting in full: "FM Rainbow Goa was, is, and will always be a part of Goa's culture. I have grown up listening to FM Rainbow since I was a child. Now, living outside Goa, this channel has been my only true connection to my homeland and its wonderful and diverse culture and music.
"Listeners enjoy the tunes and talks by prominent as well as local Goans only through this AMAZING channel.
"This is the only Goan radio channel that has been connecting Goans to Goa. Losing this channel to the merger with Mhadei is a tremendous loss to Goans around the world.
"This must not happen. Sign the petition now!"
Would you agree? Of course, AIR/Akashvani has been shaping Goa's understanding of its culture and music for the past many years.
FM Rainbow especially had some popular and appreciated RJs (radio jockeys). They catered well to local tastes, and played a good mix of Konkani and English, even Marathi music. In a Goa starved of radio choices, this came as a breath of fresh air.
Nonetheless, before the case is overstated, let's point to radio's limitations. Not enough was done to promote Goa's local culture. There often was a jostling for space on radio, especially among Goa's diverse languages.
At times, radio was accused of promoting favourites and creating legends, among musicians. This could make or break a musician.
Besides, radio has collated huge amounts of Goan cultural products, as a trustee, over the past many decades, both after and before 1961. While one heard of occasional attempts to 'digitise' old recordings and music, these have largely remained inaccessible to the communities and societies which produced the same. This has led to a loss of access to the cultural wealth of the past.
AIR/Akashvani could have done more. The private players which bought broadcasting space in the Goa of the 1990s, sometimes showed what was possible. (Goa was an early player in the opening up of privatised FM broadcasting. But, with repeatedly changes in government policy, that came to nought over time.)
For awhile, Goa had its own Gyanvani (educational radio) channel. But this too wound up. Community radio, sadly enough, never really took off in Goa. St Xavier's College in Mapusa had permission to run this. But maybe that was an idea before its time, and it sadly turned out to be a non-starter. Despite efforts of individuals like the late Principal Newman Fernandes. Goa University, at one point, also had plans to start its own community radio channel.
Which way is radio going in Goa and the rest of India? This has serious implications for the future of our culture, even if we mostly fail to see the link, as of now.
In July 2023, the I&B Central minister Anurag Thakur spoke of plans to "e-auction" some 808 FM radio stations. This, he said, would "further increase the footprint of radio communication".
Anirban Mukherjee, "an avid listener of All India Radio", put things bluntly in an August 2023 article (NewsClick).
He wrote about Prasar Bharati's plans to relay reprogrammes of its Kolkata-A or Geetanjali (primary station) through FM Rainbow, from July 1, 2023.
He wrote: "The reason behind this sudden decision was not clearly communicated to the stakeholders, including listeners, presenters and others associated with the station. Therefore, this decision has sparked speculation among the observers."
He suggested that some felt the primary reason was "economic" or part of an austerity drive. But Mukherjee added: "Some others, however, smell a more sinister design behind the decision. According to a person once associated to FM Rainbow and requesting anonymity, the focus of Prasar Bharati now is to prioritise national news over regional and local news, ostensibly to give more air time to the ruling dispensation at the Centre and its leaders."
For this, he suggested, "They are trying to impose stricter control over regional stations. Besides, it would be easier to control the programmes if news and related content is increased at the expense of talk shows which, as a result of being interactive, are harder to control."
As we write, in Goa, Pramod Sawant, chief minister, is currently talking about the movie 'Kashmir Files', and how it was not possible to fly the Indian tricolour in Kashmir in 2014.
A musician wrote on WhatsApp: "I am badly missing my FM. Looks like the world has ended. I used to send in requests...I cannot work properly without FM radio music."
Commiserating, I suggested SoundCloud instead. It's not the same thing, agreed. The reply came back: "I was listening to SoundCloud and Spotify. Nice music."
Let's recognise the loss. Let's think of the long run. Options are needed. Goa's culture and music is too important to be left in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats who decide policies based on their own interest.
