Music is a feeling. Soothing melodies can lift us when the chips are down. However, the notes and rhythms Goans are listening to these days on the radio are not only making them feel low, but the music has turned into deafening noise.
These days the airwaves seem to come from a distant land, and there is no soul in them. It's not the same waves that lifted us and reflected our stories. We felt comforted because our heartbeats and the airwaves were on the same wavelength.
But everything changed when Goa’s people's channel FM Rainbow was suddenly grounded for reasons best known to the AIR Directorate, thus depriving listeners of the splendid content that the erstwhile channel offered.
Goa had one of the first 5 FM stations in the country, and FM Rainbow was AIR’s flagship channel with very high popularity ratings.
Why has Goa been targeted when there are still so many FM Rainbow channels operating around the country?
This decision to shut FM Rainbow in Goa is ironic because now the government has announced the opening of 730 FM channels across the country. Goans are left deprived when the airwaves are flooded with frequencies, but FM Rainbow has vanished.
Why has Goa been targeted when there are still so many FM Rainbow channels operating around the country? You travel to Lucknow in the North and Trivandrum in the South, FM Rainbow is still operational.
But in Goa, the channel that used to offer a bouquet of Konkani, Bollywood, Western, Marathi and classical music has turned into the most boring, offering mainly repeat broadcasts.
Music in the state’s official language, Konkani, has been reduced to less than 10 per cent on Akashvani Panaji and zero per cent on Vividh Bharati, the two channels that are now operational in Goa.
But for reasons best known to them, AIR Goa has reduced Konkani music considerably below 10 per cent.
RTI information tells us that around the country, Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai, all broadcast around 25 to 30 per cent of music in the official language of the state. But for reasons best known to them, AIR Goa has reduced Konkani music considerably below 10 per cent.
Prime-time Konkani music, which was traditionally broadcast between 7 pm and 8 pm, has been replaced by Marathi programmes. This is not only an insult to Goa but also an assault on the Goan way of life. Would anyone even think of replacing Marathi music in Mumbai with Telugu and Kannada programmes?
To add insult to injury, popular Western music slots have been banished. World favourites like Coldplay, Bryan Adams, Taylor Swift or Rihanna are rarely heard on AIR nowadays.
Even though millions in India are rushing for tickets to watch international bands like Coldplay and solo greats like Bryan Adams, AIR Panaji chooses to terminate Western music slots in the mornings and evenings.
Radio jockeys who were synonymous with radio in Goa for more than 20 years are no longer heard.
On the two channels that run for 24 hours every day, Western music is broadcast in the afternoon slot (from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm) when there is hardly any listenership.
Radio jockeys who were synonymous with radio in Goa for more than 20 years are no longer heard.
Names like Sachin who hosted On the Rocks, Bambino and Savio who made sports come alive with Sportingly Yours, Bhau who voiced Goa's warmth with Bhaucho Balcao and Jeffers who hosted Jazz & World Music are no longer a part of prime time on AIR.
Names that built the channel are now rarely heard and have become part of radio folklore in Goa.
Icons of Goa and well-known personalities like Sonia Shirsat, Hema Sardessai, Prince Jacob are no longer invited by AIR Panaji.
Icons of Goa and well-known personalities like Sonia Shirsat, Hema Sardessai, Prince Jacob are no longer invited by AIR Panaji. In the past 365 days, how many popular names have been invited for live broadcasts?
The answer is a complete shocker! Less than 10 in a full year, and this is Goa’s capital station.
The sad reality is public funds are being wasted on content that's not relevant to Goa and Goans, who are deprived of a space that belonged to them. What is the use of broadcasting programmes that have been recorded for the previous generation?
It feels like our voice is being stifled by the very system that's supposed to nurture it. The loss of FM Rainbow is a loss to Goan identity.