We were returning from
somewhere last Sunday evening. Usually we play the mp3 collection to keep
things quiet and friendly during a drive. Side story: although it is filled to
the gills with Ilayaraja songs, the first file on this pen drive, for some reason,
is the Macarena. And every time we start the engine, the audio system resets to
the first song. And since we’ve had this same collection for a very long time
now, that song is now firmly tattooed on my kid’s brain. He was singing it
aloud when we were at the Niagara Falls last year. Over the din of the falls, a
Hispanic family voiced their approval. Oye! Back to the story. I had removed
the stick for some reason and had not plugged it back in. So we had to resort
to the airwaves for music. My default station is NPR but my son hates it from
the bottom of his heart (appa, vera paattu podu, iva pesindey irukka Eng:
Dad, play some other song, these people are just talking) So we tuned into
1170AM the desi station in the Bay Area.
Now, as I mentioned
earlier, I default to NPR for my short commute and on those rare occasions when
I tune into 1170AM, I almost always catch some talk show in Hindi. Given my
proficiency in that language, I make a quick exit. But when I travel with the missus,
she prefers this station. Talk about timing but we have listened to some
Kannada programs and even Telugu programs but nary a bit of Tamil. Last Sunday
was one such day where we caught the tail end of a Hindi program followed by a
Women’s day Telugu program. Side story: I was surprised at how much Telugu I
was actually able to follow. Side story: Four years in a private engineering
college have given me only a smattering of engineering concepts but more than a
working knowledge of conversational Telugu. Thank you Reddys, Raos, Vamsis,
Yelamarthis. Back to the story. There are two things that I have observed in
the multiple Telugu and Kannada programs that I have had the opportunity to
listen to. The program hosts always speak good quality Telugu and Kannada.
Granted there is the English phrase or three thrown in. But for the most part,
it is in their language. Second, the hosts have always been coherent and were
not hemming and hawing or were lost for words.
Surprisingly, the program
that followed the Telugu one last Sunday was Tamil darbar. Yaay, Tamil on radio
finally!! It was hosted by a certain Ms. Minmini (Chinna chinna aasai singer?)
and a Mr. Baba. The show was about Women in Tamil Cinema. That took some wind
out of my sail but I was still pumped. Side story: All Tamil entertainment
across all media formats shall feed off Tamil cinema. Talk shows, debates,
culture, sports, politics, technology, business, music, dance, TV, radio, the
internet and anything else under the sun will be based on Tamil cinema.
Computational lithography for EUV illumination systems as observed in modern
Tamil Cinema. Barathi Raja on the effects of El Nino on the kuruvai crops in
the Cauvery river delta. Back to the story. The two hosts spent some time
flitting from one lady veteran to another. There was the regulation hat tip to
Manorama, followed by obeisance to Suhasini Mani Ratnam, interspersed by songs
featuring them. Honorary mentions were made about SriVidya, Revathi and a
couple of others. By which time I had arrived home and turned it off.
What really bothered me
was that the entire show was in English. In case you had missed it, the program
was titled Tamil Darbar. The hosts were hardly able to string
together an English-free sentence. Coming off programs in good Hindi and
Telugu, this struck a very discordant note. Also, they were not comfortable
chatting about movies either. Mr. Baba, hosting a show about women in Tamil
cinema through the ages, announced (in English) that he started watching Tamil
movies from 2000 AD, thus leaving Ms. Minmini to carry on by herself in
English.
Minmini: Suhasini is a
wonderful actor, illiya?
Baba: Grmpfh…Yeah
M: She has portrayed a
wide range of roles, illiya?
B: Hrrmph….Sure. Wide
range.
I felt outraged. Not as a
Tamilian but as a radio listener. This program reminded me of the interview
scene in thillu mullu. And I don’t mean it as a compliment. The
content was questionable; the presentation bad and the attitude, worse. Why is
the average Bay Area Tamil listener getting short changed by 1170AM?
Those that tune in to a
desi station do so mostly for nostalgia. To get a quick fix of the language and
culture of the old country. Not for spoken English lessons. If I need movie
trivia in bad Tamil, I’ll watch Sun TV. The primary objective of 1170AM, and
I’m out on a limb here, should be to recreate the magic of AIR and vividhbharathi in
a distant land. Bring back the ads for Archana Sweets (Radha, late-a vandhennu
kovama? naangu naangu naangu onbadhu ettu naangu) and Saravana Stores
(Ranganathan theru, mambalam rayil nilayam arugil.) for God's sake!
Imagine driving down Highway 1 on a beautiful spring afternoon after a hearty
lunch. In a moment of weakness, I tune in to 1170AM to complete the picture of
heaven. The last thing I want to hear is broken Tamil from someone with a
mouthful of marbles. (Short name Supi sir! Suppi-yaavdhu guppy-yaavdhu. Get
out!) Even if it is an ad for a tax consultant, let it be in good Tamil.
Please?
On my
missus’ suggestion, I now plan to try out for a radio host at 1170AM. My voice
does not have a rich captivating baritone nor do I possess the wit and humor of
a Thenkachi Swaminathan. But I have a feel for what is missing from 1170AM and
believe that I can provide that. In reasonably good Tamil. Or at least make an
earnest attempt. Who knows, maybe on my way out of the interview, I might find
myself saying to the next candidate: Candidate-a already mudivu
pannittaangappa. Interview ellam eye waas!
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