Names, with due respect to the Bard, matter. Often, they are more than just labels — by what a thing is called, its peculiarities are defined. “Akashvani” and “All India Radio”, for example, do not mean the same thing. Akashvani can represent either wonder at what would have once seemed an almost magical technology, or a top-down, authoritative (and, at times, even authoritarian?) voice from the sky.
All India Radio (AIR) may seem more quotidian, a mere description: But given the size and diversity of the country it serves, the hold-all, generic name carries within it multitudes. The recent order by Prasar Bharati mandating that all references to AIR be stopped/removed and that state radio will now be known exclusively as Akashvani must be seen in this light.
To be fair, the internal order merely puts into effect the provision made in the Prasar Bharati Act, which came into force in 1997. The nub of the matter, though, lies in the official papering over of the “unity in diversity” that’s associated with AIR/Akashvani. In Tamil Nadu, AIR is Vanoli, in Kerala Akashvani is Aakasha-vaani. Given the linguistic diversity and its politics in India, the English-language name is not divorced from local cultures — it is part compromise, a benign way of establishing national symbols.
AIR is an abbreviation that has become a term in itself. And it is a source of evolving nostalgia — from memories of the 9 o’ clock English news bulletin to the jingles which preceded, for years, the only shows where teenagers could hear Western music — from The Beatles to Pink Floyd, down to Michael Jackson and Aerosmith. Perhaps, AIR can co-exist with Akashvani even today. All India Radio, then, can be for all of India.
