Remembering Lotika, Pamela, Melville and Chakrapani

 Caveat: The contents of this article may go clean over the heads of those under the age of 65, but that is no excuse for your not wanting to read the piece. Shakespeare went over my head every time I tried to plough through one of those interminable soliloquies by Hamlet, Richard III, Macbeth, Mark Anthony and company, but read them I did for fear of incurring the wrath of my teachers and being administered six of the best in the juicy parts. For which injunction I should be eternally grateful, as I am able to fish out an appropriate quote as and when needed, which is quite often. With these few words…

I have said this before and I will say it again. When you reach my age, and I reached my age several years ago (if that makes any sense), you realise soon enough that you have more years behind you than in front of you. Not that I wish to sound maudlin and hark back to some dreary nostalgic stuff. I do that often enough. However, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride (if that makes any sense). What that means is that given half a chance, I might go back on my word and turn nostalgic, if not maudlin.

That said, today I shall be talking about the news. That was a bit of a red herring, because I have no intention of holding forth on Trump’s shenanigans, India’s response, or lack thereof, to the tariff war or indeed, how the DMK and TMC are preparing to take on the BJP’s looming presence in their backyards during the forthcoming state assembly polls. Speaking of which, another three-letter acronym will be hitting the headlines again – EVM. Not to mention SIR. If all else fails, our newscasters will spend a great deal of time in the dubious company of jumped-up political spokespersons on the issue of who to blame for the unfortunate and painful death in Delhi of a bright young techie who, while driving was sucked into an open drain and could not be rescued in time to save his life. I am, as I am sure you are, fed on a daily diet of such outpourings of disaster. Not that these are not important or tragic, but to have to listen to the same thing all the livelong day, with no added input, can be galling. At least, the newspapers have no value after 8 am, except to do the Crossword or Sudoku.

Instead, I wish to spend some time talking about Lotika Ratnam, Melville de Mellow, Pamela Singh and V.M. Chakrapani. And their ilk. They were heard, never seen. Think radio. I can already sense many eyebrows being raised in befuddlement. As I said, long before television and their several avatars took over India’s airwaves and wrecked our peace of mind forever, 9 pm every night meant listening, in calm reflection, to the news on All India Radio, brought to you by one of those worthies I just named. I was barely into my teens, when my father would switch on the radio precisely at 9 pm to listen to what was happening around the country. I am talking circa early to mid-60s. We didn’t bother too much about the rest of the world barring a few honourable mentions, like if Kennedy was shot dead, or if Neil Armstrong took that ‘one small step for man,’ or if Russia and the United States went eyeball to eyeball over Cuba, armed to the gills with nuclear missiles. Yes, they were at it even then. I am not sure if I actually sat around and intently followed what was being said, but I just loved those voices, their studied, precise accents and their unhurried, balanced articulation of matters of vital import. Incidentally, V.M. Chakrapani later migrated to Australia and became a celebrated cricket commentator, but that is another story.

A typical 9 pm news broadcast over All India Radio would go something on the following lines.

This is All India Radio. Here is the news read by Lotika Ratnam. First the headlines.

India’s agricultural production rose by 5% over the previous year.

India’s export of steel to Russia has registered a marked increase.

The Prime Minister will travel to Egypt to meet President Nasser to hold wide-ranging talks.

China’s Prime Minister, Chou En Lai has expressed a desire to initiate peace talks with India after the recent skirmishes on our borders.

Sports. India was defeated by Australia in Melbourne by an innings and 4 runs.

And now for the news in detail.

On the following evening at 9 pm, the dulcet voice of Lotika Ratnam will make way for the deep baritone of Melville De Mellow.

This is All India Radio. Here is the news and this is Melville De Mellow reading it. First the headlines.

According to the latest census figures, India’s population has grown exponentially to 850 million. The Ministry of Family Planning will be announcing new schemes and incentives to curb unchecked growth in population.

The Leader of the Opposition today asked the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha if steps were being taken to stop infiltration by Pakistani militants in the sensitive border areas of Kashmir.

India’s import of wheat from the United States under the PL-480 scheme grew by 8% over the previous year, causing a glut in our own granaries.

Cricket. Nari Contractor has been named captain for India’s forthcoming tour of the West Indies.

And now for the news in detail.

Pamela Singh would take over the reins the next evening, followed by V.M. Chakrapani thereafter and that is how we were kept abreast of current affairs that the country was seized of during those days. For reasons not entirely explicable, our daily news placed considerable emphasis on exports and imports of a variety of items. If it was steel one day, it would be coal’s turn the next day. Rice, wheat and pulses would keep us engrossed on other days. Ministers, particularly the Prime Minister, setting out for foreign lands to hold ‘fruitful talks’ was another major attraction. Precisely what those fruitful talks consisted of was never fully elaborated upon, but it gladdened our hearts to know that Mr. Nehru or Mr. Shastri were jetting around the globe to make India a better place. The nation was shocked over Lal Bahadur Shastri’s sudden and mysterious demise in Tashkent in 1966 after signing the Tashkent Declaration, while conspiracy theories about how he died were swirling around. That certainly earned prime slot in the news headlines though the alleged conspiracy was kept under wraps.

There could not have been a bigger shock to the nation’s system than when Mahatma Gandhi was tragically assassinated in 1948, though this was purely from hearsay as I wasn’t born then. Incidentally, an emotional Melville De Mellow it was who described to the country over the airwaves Gandhiji’s final journey as he was laid to rest. For close to seven hours, De Mellow walked with the cortege as he described the procession. While the nation wept. That is the stuff of legend.

An interesting side issue to reflect upon. Every time someone of importance passed away, All India Radio, for days on end would play doleful instrumental music throughout the day. Nothing else. Any time of day or night you switched on the radio, you will hear dirge-like strains of the sitar, sarod, veena or violin playing a series of extremely lachrymose ragas all day long. Depending on the importance of the person who shuffled off his mortal coil, this could go on for anything from three to seven days.

As I post this piece to coincide with our Republic Day, it occurs to me that watching endless processions on television of floats displaying various economic and cultural achievements at the state and national level, our defence might on air, sea and land – all this while our political leaders and special invitees from abroad watch in admiration and awe, it has all become somewhat passe. Not too many people sit in front of their television sets to take in the extremely long televisual feast. Republic Day honours are greatly anticipated as the list of Padma awardees are declared. Oftentimes the list of awardees is conspicuous for those who did not make the grade, leading to a bit of argy-bargy by political party spokespersons. Finally, as the televised parade is accompanied by a bi-lingual commentary by persons unknown, we long for those voices floating through the ether that are now no longer with us. Perhaps Melville De Mellow is providing eloquent commentary from ‘up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.’

Here endeth the news.