Meditation has many forms. Some of us like to sit with our legs crossed and folded, eyes closed and chant a certain phrase. Some of us prefer a trance induced by following a certain thought process. Some of us prefer the calm of the sea, some the silence of the mountains. Every single day, when I travel to office in a rickety old bus that is louder than anything else on the road, I find my meditation on the radio.
Everybody wants the window seat when they’re travelling, be it a bus, train or even a flight. We all want that freedom to glimpse at the world passing by and its myriad offerings while we sit and relax. In the very bus ride that I mentioned earlier, the world is out there in all its glory and all its shades that form a spectacular vision to behold. And while my eyes are busy beholding this, my ears are lost in their own trance in the sound that pours into them from the headphones. Plugged into my phone, the headphones convey the voice of FM Radio.
Don’t get me wrong – not everything that’s going on on the different FM channels is good, or even worth listening to. Nope, there are some pretty irritating shows and radio jockeys out there (Jeeturaj – Yes I am talking about you!). But listening to the radio feels much better than simply playing songs off my memory card. First of all – you don’t know which song is gonna play next. Something about that randomness keeps things very interesting, keeps you on your toes – “what song will play next? Will it be my favorite number? Will I hate it?”. With this, you’re already involved in something beyond the music. One moment you’re listening to retro hits from the 90s hosted by a 40 something Bollywood veteran with an amazing sense of humor, the next moment your ears are all for the English classics request show hosted by the 20 something with a next-door voice.
Second, you get to listen to so much more than songs on the radio. Actual human voices talking about everything under the sun, ranging from everyday affairs in the city to stories reminiscent of the past. For example, a show hosted by Anu Kapoor has been one of my favorites for a while. He plays some wonderful classics from years gone by, while talking about the life of a person involved in the film industry. During that show, one gets to experience so much more than the song – one experiences the people behind it, the stories that made it a reality, or simply the funny thing that happened on the set.
Listening to the radio is especially informative if you’re new to a city – of course, it has to be in a language that you understand at least partially. Since I have been in Mumbai, the radio has taught me more about the city than anything else – the good, the bad and even the parts that sound ugly.
Not everyone likes it. And I don’t blame them. In today’s age of instant gratification and on-demand Haryanvi rappers, understanding the beauty behind the FM radio is not something that can be expected of everyone. When I was a kid, we probably had the best radio unit in my town – it was a massive Hi-Fi system which had been optimized for FM. Listening to Power FM back in the day was perhaps the only musical education that I received.
To those who still don’t see why I consider radio as meditation, think about this – you turn on the radio, put on your headphones and simply let go of the controls while the songs play one after the other, almost on auto-pilot, while you close your eyes to all that’s going on around you – visuals of the song or of a distant past playing like a film-reel inside your head. Trust me, try it.
How many of you still listen to the radio?
Arnab Mukherjee 