World Radio Day: This new documentary is a collection of nostalgic stories of radio enthusiasts

Librarian Vijay Deodharrsquos radio has shut shop The Pune resident calls one technician after another disappointed each time they tell him that they have moved on they donrsquot repair radios anymoreItrsquos a fitting way to start My Radio My Life a film by Punebased TimeCap Documentaries which as its cofounder and the filmrsquos directorproducer Makarand Waikar says was launched during the pandemic to document ldquotraditions and habits that are going to vanish soonrdquoBharathi Prasad runs an HAM radio amateur radio from New Delhi and is connected with radio HAMs in almost every country of the worldItrsquos also perfectly timed as World Radio Day is set to be celebrated on February 13 The day was announced in 2011 by the Member States of The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO and adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2012 as a UN International Day ldquoRadio as a technology science means of communications and system of programming audio elements has roots all the way back to the 1800shellip so it can be safely said that the medium is already well into its second centuryrdquo says the UNESCO site and this yearrsquos theme is A Century of Informing Entertaining and EducatingWaikarrsquos documentary is a collection of nostalgic stories of radio enthusiasts features restorers announcers and of course listeners The treatment is one that focuses on a slow life accentuated by memories shared by men and women who saw the radio as a friend Yoursquoll see shots of rainy mornings sleepy afternoons and of times when less was more ldquoIt the film will work as a time capsule Tomorrow you may see the radio in a museum but all the people connected with it wonrsquot be around Thatrsquos why this documentary is important to have made it can exist as part of archives all over the world because the radio affected the lives of so many peoplerdquo he tells middayBidit RoyAlong with cofounder Simantinee Bhagwat and codirector Bidit Roy Waikar began research in 2021 by looking for people associated with the radio a practical communications system developed by Guglielmo Marconi in 1894ndash1895 It was from 1920 to 1945 that the radio developed into the first electronic mass medium It arrived in India in 1922 and a group of hobbyists in Mumbai launched the first radio station The Bombay Presidency Radio Club was followed by the Calcutta Radio Club in November 1923 and Madras Radio Club founded in 1924 all amateur efforts The then British government set up the Indian Broadcasting Service in 1930 later called All India Radio and given Akashvani moniker in 1957ldquoRadio was a big part of my childhood My grandfather was crazy about it I got attached to it and was fascinated by this relationship between radio and humansmdashthis box was affecting their life decisionsrdquo says Roy Bhagwat on the other band was busy narrowing in on the main characters and after sifting She zeroed in on six from 25 ldquoI read articles blogs and attended Radio Day functionshellip their passion for the radio had to be paramount for them to make it to the filmrdquoMakarand Waikar and Simantinee Bhagwat started documenting stories of radio lovers during the pandemic PicM FahimFor Waikar honouring the radio was also a personal goal ldquoI had listened to news of Apollo 11 landing on moon on the radio There was such euphoria That commentary in English influenced me so much that I was drawn to studying science got into IIT and became a chemical engineerrdquo says Waikar adding that his job in Mumbai made him a fan of this newspaper which hersquod read start to finish every afternoon over lunch ldquoI could have become a documentary maker back then too but itrsquos okay this is my second liferdquoAsk the team who their favourite character from the film is and all of pick Uday Kalburgi unanimously The radio restorer is behind Bengalurursquos Short Wave Radio Museum ldquoHe is restoring a radio from 1920 so that itrsquos in the same shape as it was thenrdquo exclaims Bhagwat Roy chimes in ldquoIt is his lifersquos mission All those radios would have become scrap And he does this single handedly That moved me The restoration journey is a solo one Documentary filmmakers are also like that fighting the forces Uday has that firerdquoAn awardwinning radio announcer Mamta Singh is known as Radio SakhiKalburgi is sure to win over the viewer as well His training ground he says in the film was a radio shop in Nipani which he stood outside every day as a sevenyearold to figure out exactly what the radio did ldquoRadios just keep coming to me through my life and I want to keep them alive for the next generationrdquo he saysWaikar draws our attention to a time when families were united by the radio gathering around it in the evenings to hear the news music or audio plays ldquoIt was a familyrsquos only source of entertainment It generated discussion Unlike social media and phones which consume you and all your attention radio was a companion It was a respected friend who kept a distance so that you could do other things as you listened to itrdquoAfter countless mentions at international film festivals the film is readying to make its India debut as Waikar hopes for a video on demand release All its makers want is for people to remember the radio ldquoItrsquos a testament to how small things affected our life And life is cyclical so who knows this may all come back againrdquo says a hopeful Roy