Category: Life

aur ye khat humko likha hai…

May 2, 2020 / / 0 Comments

This is from the Facebook memories of 2014.

2-3 days ago I was listening to AIR FM Gold channel and there was a letter from someone from some remote place in Kashmir. The gentleman insisted in the letter that DO read the name of the place from where I am writing.

I couldn’t stop myself from noticing the difference. On one side we in the metros are living this always-on-run life and on the other side there was someone who wanted his place’s name to be read loudly so that people know about it ! How simple life must be at that place !

Folks who have been radio fans before this FM channels attack era came would be able to relate to it.

If you have been a radio fan in those days, you would be able to relate to it so much. The happiness when names from the letters you sent were read on radio; it was so blissful. Such simple joys. It was TV that killed the radio listening in India. As TV kept coming to more and more households, Radio started getting ignored. TV was more entertaining and “new”. Only the older generation tuned to BBC News & All India Radio for news. Then came the FM era. The FM channels in small cities were more like an extension of AM/SW channels, covering local stuff etc. But this burst of FM channels in Metros spoiled it all. Almost all of them broadcast trash day and night. They can’t really be called radio channels.



(Image from here)

With the number of listeners going down many radio channels all over the world have started shutting down their services. Also the companies stopped making Radios. At least in India, if you go to market to buy a radio, there are very very few options available. Phillips is making one or two models & same thing Sony is doing. Then there could be some low quality stuff made locally. Western countries especially USA is going good in this area. You search for a radio on Amazon.com and you have hundreds of options to choose from. Also if you YouTube for a DIY radio antenna, you will see thousands of videos posted by people from Western counties describing how to make you own antenna for AM or SW. It is so beautiful and nostalgic stuff.

This fast paced life and new means of entertainment and getting information has replaced this simple part of our lives called radio. I don’t think that era is gonna come back but we at least can cherish those memories.

Re-plugging a post i did few years ago – Best of online Ghazal radio stations.

India Lockdown – Day 21

April 14, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Read day 20

So the lockdown has been extended till 3rd May. There are going to be some relaxations area wise, starting from 20th Apr depending upon if there have been no new cases in the area and many other conditions. But still we need to be careful. Countries all over the world are struggling with it. Once it gets out of hands, it will become impossible to control the spread.

The people who have suffered the most due to lockdown are the poor and daily wagers. A lot of them are stuck at places away from their hometowns and because of no public transport running, they aren’t able to reach their hometowns. There is no daily income for them, so it is becoming increasingly difficult to survive. Govt and many social organizations are putting their efforts to make it better for them but given the big population we have, that is not easy to manage. Hope the situation gets better. We need to fight it together.

India Lockdown – Day 20

April 13, 2020 / / 1 Comment

Read day 19

So there is still no clarity about the lockdown extension at this moment. The number of cases is touching 10000. Hope it gets extended in some shape as still we haven’t able to flatten the curve. There are new hotspots being found every few days. It needs to be extended in some shape as otherwise the situation may get out of control. Let’s see what decision the government takes.

Read day 21

India Lockdown – Day 19

April 12, 2020 / / 1 Comment

Read day 18

Today started on a fun note. A friend planned to have a Zoom call with all the buddies from my first company. It was fun. 7-8 people scattered all over the world were on call. So much to talk about. Feels so good to see everyone together on one call.

In the afternoon there was a message from Kent guys that someone will visit for servicing the RO ! Wow ! Canceled the request as got it done already.

Read day 20

India Lockdown – Day 18

April 11, 2020 / / 1 Comment

Read day 17

The number of cases is still on the rise. The lockdown may get extended which is actually a good thing. That is the only way to keep things in control. Two states Kerala and Punjab has already extended it.

The groceries we ordered from BigBasket some 4-5 days ago were delivered today. Few items were missing because of being out of stock but still good enough. Got some of the essentials we needed. May need to plan another order as there are no immediate delivery slots available. But problem is that you prepare your cart and by the time you will go to place the order either some of the items will be out of stock or the delivery slots will become unavailable. The challenge these days. But still these online services have been doing good work. Helps people stay home. Milk and Grocery deliveries have been fine most of the time except initial one or two days of the lockdown.

Read day 19