Is this All India Radio?
All India Radio instituted an annual lecture in 1955 , in honour and memory of Independent India’s first Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel , who was also instrumental shaping up the political India of today, from an assortment of many princely states.
This prestigious annual lecture , named – “ Patel Memorial Lecture”, modeled more or less on the BBC’s “ Lord Reith Memorial Lectures”, has come to be regarded more or less as a national institution and is looked upon as a highly intellectual contribution to Indian life and thought.
Each year an eminent person , who has distinguished himself or herself in his or her field of specialization and engagement , is invited to present the very cream of his or her study and experience for the benefit of the public.
A special feature of this lecture is that while they are delivered before an invited audience. On a later date they are also broadcast over the entire network of All India Radio, which covers 98% of the population of India, so that it reaches the ears of every interested person, anywhere in India.
Prominent personalities who had been invited to deliver the “ Patel Memorial Lectures” include, C, Rajagopalachari, J.B.S. Haldane, Dr. Zakir Hussain, K.P.S Menon, Morarji R. Desai, Dr. M.G.K Menon, Prof A.M.Khusroo, L.K.Jha , Montek Singh Ahluwalia etc. This year former speaker of Lok Sabha and distinguished parliamentarian, Somnath Chatterjee was invited to deliver his views on the Indian Democratic Structure and the Role of Media. It was broadcast over the All India Radio Network on the 31st of October, 2009, at 9:30 P.M. for all interested across the length and breadth of India. But this time the broadcast was a very ‘different’ experience.
The broadcast began with an introduction to the lecture of the day, by the Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) and subsequently the mike being presented to the invited speaker, who started his well-crafted speech. The beautiful, in-depth lecture was absorbing for the listener when suddenly, at 9:58 p.m the speech of the eminent parliamentarian was annoyingly interrupted by the voice of a lady announcer with an announcement that was actually the introduction that ought to have been made before the Lecture began.
The announcement continued for sometime and then as abruptly as before, Mr. Chatterjee’s speech came in once again but not from the point where it had been disrupted. Besides breaking the connection and the concentration of the interested listener, the sequence of the thought in the speech was lost.
This lapse on the part of the All India Radio is simply not excusable, as this was the recorded version of the speech and adequate precaution should have been taken to avoid such mistakes in the edited version readied for the National Broadcast. Moreover, AIR did not even think it fit to express regret for this mix-up. Is this All India Radio?
Posted by MKD Sriman, Indore
Tags: All India Radio, DH blogs, Readers blog, Sriman
November 4th, 2009 at 5:04 am
One of the ” failures” as we observe lot of Printing Mistake in print media and airing errors/ un verified facts through Channel in flash News etc.Your observation is keen and accurate.With all the resourses
they are having (including what others I have quoted ),such “miss” are
blunders in real sense.At the same time they Dont bother.They will perhaps commit more blunder to day.Future is questionable.Let us continue to regret and go on pointing
November 6th, 2009 at 2:58 am
This is interesting. Though I liked radio I never heard of such a lecture. Moreover with such a history, it should have been advertised in several media’s.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:32 am
That was a very interesting and informative article Mr.Sriman, especially for a person like me who belongs to the MTV generation.
I have always enjoyed listening to AIR and hold great respect to its content as much as Doordarshan which kept us entertained with quality content much before the current trashy channels made their debut.
I have an insight which I want to humbly present before you which I have gained due to living in Australia for over 10 years. Here they have what is called “Media Watch” which is a brief program every week which keeps a check on all media channels be it print,radio or TV for unsubstantiated claims,presentations or mistakes like the one which happened in AIR and holds them accountable.
As a vivid radio listener I can understand your dismay and frustration you experienced. But if such a program was to exist in Indian Media, these mistakes could be brought to light and actually hold the media responsible.It would to a great extent stop sensationalization of issues on TV which is a huge problem today.
Please visit http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch to give you a better idea of how the system works.
I hope the quality of Indian media improves to the grand era of AIR and Doordarshan !!!
December 6th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
TO THE EDITOR,DC
SUB:IS THIS ALL INDIA RADIO ?
SIR,
THE REASON FOR THIS TYPE OF FAILURES AND ARROGANCE OF NOT ACCEPTING THE MISTAKE IS JUST BECAUSE OF THE HIGH-HANDED IDIOTS OF THE ENGINEERING SECTION OF ALL INDIA RADIO THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. THEY ARE NEITHER SENSIBLE NOR RESPONSIBLE. ALL INDIA RADIO TODAY IS NOT FOR PROGRAMMING AND PUBLIC SERVICE BUT TO HELP FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES. I AM OF THE VIEW THAT IN AN ORGANISATION LIKE AIR, HEADED BY PEOPLE LIKE LALLI, CEO, NO CREATURE WITH SENSE CAN GET ANY JUSTICE OR HONEST REPLY AT LEAST. THIS IS NOT THE ONLY MISTAKE HAPPENED THIS DAY.SUCH GRIEVIOUS MISTAKES HAPPEN ( AT TIMES DELIBERATELY ) SEVERAL NUMBER OF TIMES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY EVERYDAY. THATS DEMOCRACY. KINDLY PUBLISH THIS IN THE LARGER INTERESTS OF THE PUBLIC. THANKS.