Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Kannada goes global
|
Sparsha, the 24-hour Kannada channel on WorldSpace boasts of content Kannadigas will be proud of. It also fosters bonding across air waves, finds DEEPA GANESH
|
Photo: Murali Kumar K.
ONGOING ENGAGEMENT Chaitanya and Shruti are constantly thinking of new ideas
Listening to Fauji Bhayiyon Ke Liye, the very popular programme of Vividh Bharati had two attractions: the obvious one is the songs that one could die for. The secondis the quaint charm of listening to letters from soldiers in remote corners. Remember Jhumri Talaiyya? Even in those days of the radio, with sets which had to be turned in unimaginable directions to tune into two frequencies, the world would present itself in its most compressed form. Your feelings about that wistful “Tum na jaane kis jahaan mein kho gaye” were exactly the feelings of the faceless fauji bhai. That one song, that one letter and with the cherished magical box as medium, distances collapsed.
Now, stormed as we are by urban-centric FM radio channels, forget the back of the beyond Jhumri Talaiyya, we don’t even connect to our neighbouring Srirangapatna. When Shruti S. Prakash, Assistant Programme Director of WorldSpace Sparsha speaks of a Major Kiran who was listening to Kannada programmes in far off Saichen, and is now carrying his set to Congo, where he is presently posted to – it felt human bridges were being built all over again. Worldspace’s 24-hour Kannada channel Sparsha, literally and metaphorically, touches people and at various geographical ends.
Not only do you have people listening to it in the other corner of the globe, but there are also people in our own backyard, in places like Kushalnagara, Vitla and the rest tuning in. With their 10 MSN stations getting underway, Worldspace is now accessible anywhere in the world.
“We have a wide audience, people with diverse interests. Therefore we make sure that we have all kinds of programmes,” explains Chaitanya Hegde, Senior Programme Director, Sparsha, as he pulls out a 40-page letter from a Hyderabad listener, who gives a detailed analysis of the programmes they air.
“It’s very touching that people take so much trouble to share their thoughts with us,” says Chaitanya. He recalls how when they had Kannada composers Rajan-Nagendra special, Rajan had himself called to say how happy he was!
This overwhelming response has only made the Sparsha team feel more responsible. They now have a largely revamped programme structure. “As a Kannada channel, our emphasis is on language and not on music alone. We have modules on various aspects of Kannada,” explains Chaitanya. As part of their non-music programming initiative they have Suvarna Samputa, which has an entire series from the ancient Pampa, Galaganatha to Kuvempu, Karanth, M.V. Subbaiah Naidu, and others. They air dramatised versions of short stories by Masti Venkatesh Iyengar. Kuvempu’s famous children’s play “Naana Gopala” was also part of this endeavour. In fact, the India Radio Forum, which gives awards for Excellence in Radio, chose Sparsha for its gold category.
Chaitanya, Shruti, and others in the Sparsha team have often wondered, like many of us, why the quintessential Kannadiga is the way he is. These musings materialised in a programme called “Anveshane”, which will take off from March 3. This programme centred around identities will be hosted by Nandini Vaidyanathan, a professor from IIM-B. “We have always wondered why we are the way we are. The North Indians just lump all of South Indians into one broad category, the Madrasis. To make things worse, they call our language Kannad…and we take it without a whimper?” Issues such as this and many others will be taken up during the programme. “It is a listener-friendly programme and a good point to begin a debate,” feels Shruti.
The entire team is excited about “Naaku Tanti”, their three-episode series on Bendre Master, which will be broadcast shortly. “It was so fulfilling to talk to Vaman Bendre. He recited Bendre’s poems so wonderfully and even analysed them,” Shruti says, recalling the team’s visit to Dharwad.
Apart from this, there is a programme for women called “Maanini”, a bhaavageethe capsule “Sone Maley”, “Inchara” which has film songs from 50s to 80s among others. The team strives to add a bit of zing even into programmes that can get dreary. A programme on HIV/AIDS in the energetic Kamsale mode livens it up. Sahitya Sampada packs in origin, development and the content of Kannada literature.
If the programmes are pitched high, then isn’t it also because they can afford to make certain assumptions about their listeners? “Yes, I agree… We rarely do the sound-bytes kind of programme. Our research is fairly thorough and we do in-depth interviews,” says Chaitanya.
The energetic, lively Sparsha team owes its allegiance to the enduring All India Radio. “We grew up listening to it, and it has shaped our sensibilities.” As Shruti in her honeyed voice, in a heartening earnestness that reminds of AIR, speaks the catchphrase, “Kannadakkaagi hambalisuva managalli kannada abhimanada hanate sada kangolisali”, there’s a quick scan in the mind of all those who have rendered the language proud.
And that instant, one cannot help remembering the affable singer, S.P. Balasubramaniam, who has become Kannada’s own and has made Kannada his own, come up with some lovely coinages. He adorably tells the anchor of Sparsha he is “chirarunagrastha” (!!) to Kannadigas. It’s hard to suppress a smile, and I wonder if our fellow listener in Congo is smiling too. Wasn’t that the Kannada lamp lighting up?
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
