And on this Sunday, when it is raining and there are no cricket matches on TV, I’ve rekindled my acquaintance with the good old radio.

Or, more precisely, the transistor. I come from a generation that grew up before television was there in our living rooms.
And the Murphy Radio was the pinnacle of indoor entertainment. It had six valves and a green magic eye or tuning indicator that would miraculously light up when the radio was ready to receive an audio frequency transmission. It only had two bands, Medium Wave and Short Wave, All India Radio station operated both of them. Vividh Bharti’s list of Hindi film music was Medium Wave.

It began at 6.30 a.m. and ended at midnight with a program called ‘Bela Ke Phool.’ Throughout the day, it broadcast programs with titles like ‘Chhayageet,’ ‘Manoranjan,’ and ‘Chitrapat Sangeet.’ These primarily included songs from Hindi films and were hosted by Ameen Sayani. He was the King of RJs, and he addressed listeners as “Bhaiyo aur Behno” in a cheerfully modulated and welcoming manner. When he moved to Radio Ceylon, Ameen Sayani brought us ‘Binaca Geetmala’ – the first radio countdown show – from across the Palk Straits. Our Vividh Bharti sang songs for homesick servicemen in Poonch and lonely bachelors in Jhumri Telaiya. Which I subsequently discovered was a mining town in Jharkhand

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