“This is All India Radio, and here is the news read by Melville de Mello.” Nine p.m. and the family is gathered around the radio, as the deep baritone voice begins to read the news of the day–news from home and abroad; the only news that the nation absorbed and digested before retiring for the night. The radio was the meeting point for all generations, and the source of connection to national and international events. And indeed, it was All India Radio that defined this coming together.

Radio broadcasting services started in India during the British rule in 1922-23 under the initiative of the Bombay Presidency Radio Club.  In 1927, the Indian Broadcasting Company (IBC) was set up as a private entity and was granted permission to operate two radio stations. On 23 July 1927 the IBC made the first ever radio broadcast in the country from the Bombay Station.This event marked the start of organised radio broadcasting in India. The Calcutta Radio Club came into existence five months later. IBC dissolved its operations on 1 March 1930; thereafter the Imperial Government took over the broadcasting operations. The Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) was started on 1 April 1930 on an experimental basis for two years, and then permanently from May 1932. Eventually on 8 June 1936, it became what came to be known as All India Radio. It was also in 1936 that the first daily news bulletin was introduced.

All India Radio’s signature tune was synonymous with the name AIR. It was composed in 1936 by Walter Kaufmann, a Czech Jew who was one of the many Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution in Europe who sought refuge in India. Kaufmann became the director of music at AIR. Kuaffman was a serious western music scholar and performer, but the tune he composed for AIR was based on the Indian raga Shivranjani. It remained the identity of AIR, and was the ‘pied piper’ tune that drew the millions of listeners to the radio as the broadcasts began.

During World War II radio was being used for Nazi propaganda and there was a strong need to counter it. Hence, the practice of broadcasting all news bulletins from one central newsroom started. Around 27 bulletins were being broadcasted every day during the war years. In a time when the press was supressed, and news censored, radio broadcasts from underground radio stations played a significant role. The radio was used by nationalists to share news about the real situation on the ground, spread the message of Swadeshi, and rally the people in the non-violent struggle against British rule. These radio broadcasts had an immense impact in rousing Indians and to step up the demands of Indian freedom in the pre-independence era.  One such story on https://millennialmatriarchs.com/2021/10/07/gandhis-women-warriors-usha-mehta/

When India attained Independence on 15 August 1947, there were six radio stations: Delhi, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Tiruchirapalli, and Lucknow. In 1956 AIR formally adopted the name Akashvani. The word Akashvani which means ‘voice from the sky’ was derived from the title of Rabindranath Tagore’s poem written in 1938 for the inauguration of Calcutta All India radio’s shortwave transmission service. AIR and Akashvani were used interchangeably until 3 May 2023 when Akashvani became the exclusive name.

After Independence, AIR’s offerings began to expand beyond news and important announcements to a wide range of programmes—music, drama, live commentaries, and more. It was the primary source of news as well as entertainment. Radio continued to be the favourite companion of old and young, initially as the focal point of a household. With the advent of transistors, it became a trusty companion which accompanied wherever one went. It was the provider of songs, weather bulletins and live cricket scores. AIR’s simple listener-friendly format, its ABC of Authenticity, Brevity and Clarity became its USP. The news readers became household names, and the ultimate examples of proper diction and high quality commentary—from the Republic Day parade to cricket matches. The anchors of music programmes (today’s RJs) were popular idols with big fan clubs. Radio became a quintessential way of life for Indians.

This role is beautifully summed by Santosh Desai who grew up in the golden age of AIR: ‘All India Radio had many moods and played different kinds of roles in our lives. It was the official voice of state, the keeper of cultural standards, the chronicler of the times, the certifier of reality, the breathless commentator of the current, the receptacle of small desires of its viewers and an entertainer allowing escape into an imagined world.’

88 years after its first broadcast, AIR remains steadfast, with a widely expanded canvas. It is one of the largest broadcasting organisations in the world in terms of the number of languages of broadcast and the spectrum of socio-economic and cultural diversity it serves. AIR’s home service comprises of 591 broadcasting centres located across the country, covering nearly 90% of the country’s area and 98% of the total population. Terrestrially, AIR originates programming in 23 languages and 179 dialects.

Today as we once more salute the national flag to mark 77 years as an independent nation, it is a good time to remember that it was on AIR that the nation heard Jawaharlal Nehru’s emotional Tryst With Destiny speech, live at midnight of 14th August 1947. And when, for the first time when Nehru hoisted the Indian flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi, it was the minute-to-minute narration that the proud nation followed on AIR.

Happy Independence Day!

–Mamata