In an 1895 Hunter’s Weekly article, ‘Brunch: A Plea,’ British writer Guy Beringer defined Sunday brunch as “cheerful, sociable and talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, and it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.”
For 99 months now, All India Radio has been setting the table, one Sunday a month, for elevenses, a special brunch so to speak, featuring a special man at the head of the table.
We had watched him in a high-octane election campaign for months in 2014. We had also seen how he pulled crowds from across different geographical entities across India. This was ample indication for us at AIR that here was a broadcaster worth his salt.
On May 20, 2014, as he bowed and touched his forehead on the steps of the entrance to Parliament House as the BJP’s Prime Minister-designate, we saw a person risen through the ranks and attaining heights in a big and complex democracy proudly calling himself a “sevak” rather than a “ruler”. It occurred to us that he could, to use broadcasting parlance, “make good radio”. Broadcasters like us, who primarily do public service broadcasting, search for nothing but a captive audience.
Thus, we approached a stern-faced, matter of fact Prime Minister and requested him to create an apolitical bridge between the elector and the elected.
Dynamic changes have taken place at a dizzy pace on the audio-visual landscape. While these changes are by and large technology-driven and global in their sweep, one revolutionary change occurred nearer home in India when the Prime Minister, for the first time in the history of Indian broadcasting, gave the nod to the nation’s public service broadcaster, for Mann Ki Baat, his informal, intimate exchange of ideas and thoughts with his fellow countrymen. As the 100th episode of Mann Ki Baat draws near, it is time to look back at the unique monthly radio address, which started in October 2014 and has had a memorable run.
It began as a curious communication phenomenon where a leading, tech-savvy politician indulges, ironically, in a strictly apolitical conversation on a seemingly obsolete medium. It has now become a part of India’s cultural zeitgeist and entered popular lexicon. When you say ‘Mann Ki Baat’ there’s hardly anyone who won’t get what you are talking about, such has been its impact. Its popularity is not without reason — it has had some significant moments.
It is tempting to ask, in today’s world, why did the Prime Minister choose radio? The reasons are not far to seek. Radio is an intimate story-telling medium. There cannot be a more potent instrument for such a candid, yet warm and uninhibited exchange of ideas between the country’s Prime Minister and the people of his country. And, AIR’s reach is stupendous, with about 600 channels carrying the programme.
As broadcast followed broadcast, attracting applause not only at home but abroad, the BBC and NPR requested us to permit dissemination in those parts of the world where most other modes of broadcasting are second to radio.
Many world leaders have realised the power of radio — Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt (with his popular radio addresses called Fireside Chats) and other presidents of the United States of America. The former US President Barack Obama was more than happy to partner with our Prime Minister in a special broadcast when he touched down in India for Republic Day 2015.
This special edition in which the Indian Prime Minister and the US President talked about their humble beginnings and their concern for people, especially the youth, had an indelible impact. Both emphasised on youth power saying, “Communists used to say earlier, ‘workers of the world unite.’ I think today it should be youth — unite the world”. This gave a new fillip to the country’s youth, prompting them to come forward to partner with the government in the task of nation-building. This was also America’s tribute to the people’s Prime Minister in India.
Mann Ki Baat, far above the terrestrial transmission, reached Indian and global audiences alike through live streaming supported by AIR’s official mobile app, All India Radio LIVE, through megaphones in panchayats as a narrowcast for a clustered audience through Direct to Home (DTH) devices, and, most recently, through Amazon’s Echo Dot where Alexa takes command and you get the AIR service of your choice. Every time I travelled abroad in the last four years, many professionals in the Asia Pacific region and European Broadcasting Union echoed my view that radio in a democracy needs to cement different segments of audiences which can hardly be done unless the Chief Executive of the country knocks at their doors every last Sunday of the month at 11 am.
A rewind to some of the milestones: In December 2014, the Modi government had launched “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao”, a programme aimed at bringing about a societal transformation in the way the girl child is treated, with a special focus upon more than a 100 gender-sensitive districts, which had a skewed sex ratio. A few months later, a sarpanch clicked a selfie with his daughter in a Haryana village.
By itself, this would have meant little more than a happy moment for the father-daughter duo. Little did they know that they would end up creating a worldwide trend.
Mann Ki Baat and Swachh Bharat are connected in more ways than one. For starters, while Swachh Bharat was launched on October 2, 2014, the first episode of Mann Ki Baat went on air the very next day, on October 3, 2014. The next connection is that Mann Ki Baat, for the Prime Minister, has been one of the most important platforms in strengthening the cleanliness mission and making it a more people-driven movement.
Youth, especially students, as well as lifestyle issues of our competitive times have been a regular focus of Mann Ki Baat. The Prime Minister had dedicated one complete episode in February 2016 to the topic of facing exams in a stress-free manner. People who faced tremendous pressure themselves and excelled, such as Sachin Tendulkar, Viswanathan Anand and CNR Rao, too, featured in this episode giving valuable, non-preachy, simple tips to students.
Later, driven by the overwhelming positive feedback from the students, teachers, parents and the education community on how impactful this episode was, the Prime Minister went on to write the best-selling book, Exam Warriors, on the same topic. What started out as a topic on a radio address turned into a bestselling book for students.
From the girl child to student stress, from cleanliness to coming out of depression, the Prime Minister has often utilised Mann Ki Baat as a platform to evocatively make society speak to itself by speaking to him. Mann Ki Baat has become a conversation that millions of Indians look forward to, with their cup of tea on a Sunday every month. Mann Ki Baat represents a service that truly describes “Public Service Broadcasting”. And All India Radio rightly has the privilege to host it.
The writer is former Director General, All India Radio, and member, Prasar Bharati Board
