[cr-india] FM waves on the sea shore

[Alokesh]

FM waves on the sea shore

Friday February 8 2008 09:37 IST
Express News Service
T'PURAM: It was soon after the tsunami waves receded that Radio Alakal FM 
first hit the coastal areas in the city. 'Maattathinte Kadalala', it had 
announced.
But swept away by financial burdens, it hardly got a chance. Now that the FM 
fever has gripped the city like never before, Alakal FM is also on a revival 
path. This time, it is really set to make waves.
Though envisaged as a community radio, Alakal FM was not managed by the 
community till late. But now, it's a group of 12 youngsters belonging to the 
fishermen community which edits and prepares programmes for the radio. They 
have been trained to use the software (Audacity) by a team from Space, a 
company promoting free software.
The group creates programmes, copies them in CDs and distributes them for 
nano casting. A visit to Vizhinjam harbour at the break of dawn and in the 
evenings will show how the new effort by these youngsters shapes the daily 
routine of the fishermen community.
Unlike the flood of songs and chit-chat that consume the FM channels on air, 
Alakal has always remained a close friend of the fishermen. Folk songs of 
the community, climate changes and weather updates for those fishermen out 
in the sea, preparation of coastal food... the menu still remains endearing 
to the locals here.
A library near the harbour, Mother Teresa Grandhasala, is where the 
programmes for Alakal FM take shape. From there, the CDs go to nearly seven 
centres in the coastal areas for nanocasting where the fishermen community 
listen to the programmes for half an hour in the mornings and evenings.
"With no money and hardly any support from the elders in the area, the 
students have given radio Alakal FM a new lease of life. It may not be going 
on air, but it has become a part of the community, much beyond what ordinary 
FMs can do," says Paniadima, a representative of Space who trained the 
students on sound editing and radio programming.
When it took shape in 2006, Alakal had enjoyed the support of the Kerala 
Swathantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation (KSMTF), Space and Radio DC Smat 
(which was the campus radio in Kinfra run by DC Books). It was then 
available for nearly four hours a day and the programmes were created at 
Vellayambalam, where Space had its office.
"Now that so many FMs are on air, we are thinking of approaching some of 
them asking for at least half an hour a day to air our programmes. We really 
hope someone will be willing," says T. Peter, KSMTF president.
On air or not, Radio Alakal FM seems to care less. What matters is their 
vital role in community, which puts many chic FMs to shame.

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