Gurmeet Singh Bekraar
Those were the days in the sixties and seventies, when there were no electronic gadgets around. The industrial revolution was taking place simultaneously across the globe.Science had begun making its presence register on the ways and means of life. Developed countries in west, albeit, had leapt over far ahead in development vis-a-vis under-developed nations like ours, the life in India empirically embedded in its tabooed, orthodox cultural roots was quite inhibited and unforthcoming in its outlook. Apart from satiating their dripping mouth and mind with sumptuous multitude of cuisines and a show offs of ritzy-glitzy outfits in family functions like marriage, the other best ever source of entertainment was movie watching at cinema halls( there were no TVs) or listen to Radios for songs or news or dramas or state sponsored news.
In childhood, I remember , songs playing from Radio (now extinct) were the most favorite national pastime . Unlike today, there were no FM channels transmitting high quality sound waves. All India Radio, a Govt. owned enterprise, was the most popular broadcasting agency. Its reach to common man at that times was phenomenal. Like FM channels today, its quality of sound was far superior to other lesser popular channels like Vividh Bharti or Radio Ceylon ( of Amin Sayani fame). The Radio’s relay quality was measured in terms of its frequency of sound in bands like whether you owned a two band Radio or three band set. You were treated a privileged status wala in case you owned a four band or five band Radio because of its high cost. You will be surprised to know that the Radios got switched on only with electricity.Removable battery cells were meant only for torches etc.
Later on, as the science progressed, another mode of Radio came to replace this electrical big bro with a modified, thin and smaller, battery cell operated, antenna horned marvel machine called transistor. The transistor became more popular due to its portability and size. Radios were inherently of a big standard size and normally remained stationed on the exclusive carved to size tables or cemented protrusions from the room wall then known as “angithi” in local dialect.
As the time went along, the transistors were upgraded and its size grew smaller and smaller till it fitted into your palms. People of all ages flaunted their little acquisition a la the cell phones were in the nineties. I remember while I was in my teens and often at nights, around 10pm, I heard songs emanating from the street as my room was on the front of my home, a faint sound of a song seemed travelling from a distance distracting me from my studies every night. Head, immersed in books, tucked in between upwardly folded legs,the steady crescendo of mellifluous tune of popular Hindi film songs will always dilute my concentration. And lo ! the sound slowly dimmed down to impalpable undertones after having attained nadir whilst in front of my room. Impressed I planned to catch a glimpse of this silent song seller.
The chance came upon one night when I heard an incoming dulcet melody coming closer as usual. I flung myself out of bed and made a swift leap towards the gate. A bearded fellow walked gingerly past my home with a transistor balanced on his lousy shoulders to the proximity of his ears. The steel shine antenna protruding out of the transistor left his rich tuft of hair way behind down under. The man in his mid twenties wore white pant with an equally matching snowy shade t- shirt. Now after decades I vividly remember the musical notes of that song which were being”shoulder-fired”from his inimitable machine.
The euphonious song pertained to the film “Dost” sung by legendary playback singer Kishore Kumar : Gaadi bula rahi hai , Siti baja rahi hai ; Chalna hi zindagi hai, Chalti hi ja rahi hai ! Thanks to that gorgeous gadget Transistor which rode the shoulders of many a Romeos that we came to discover the exquisite nuance of well-composed, canorous bollywood songs which would otherwise had gone unheard and unnoticed into oblivion at least for me. Now in a digital hi-tech world, the ever growing smart cell phones have replaced computers , laptops, radios , transistors, cameras, books, newspapers and the list is endless.
Wherever you are my childhood companion ( transistor), I shall remain indebted to you for the countless moments of elixir I lived in when you ran those beautiful lyrics adorned in a symphonious blend of musical arrangement and crooned in divinely voices. Miss you too, big bro (Radio) !
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