Nisadas

One of the less appealing facets of regular travel out of Colombo can be the radio station that’s on. While this minor annoyance is generally avoided when the vehicle is your own, sharing an office transport leaves you with little alternative.

The nature of my new work is such, that I get to travel in a number of different vehicles driven by different drivers. That practically all of them listen to Shree FM is a fact that cannot be missed. That the same songs – notably “Chandani Payala” (BnS), “Nage” (Centigradz), something about kids ducking into “salons” to dab eau-de-cologne – can be heard EVERY DAMN DAY at more or less the same time is also a rather harsh reality that I escape thanks to my phone’s radio function.

Then of course, we can’t forget the female presenter who does the rather disturbing “Kanamediri Rathriya” and the way she asks the listeners to send in more tragic stories to be shared amongst the general populace. I wonder whether they have a similar show where they share people’s success stories…

Shree FM can also be noted for “Shree Hadhu Gee” (translated: Songs made by Shree). Should you be listening in, you might find the tunes to songs like Rhinestone cowboy, Take me to the Mardi Gras and recently Knock three times accompanied by sinhala lyrics.

All of these little things were in my thoughts today when I noted a rather interesting advertisement on page 92 of the Sunday Observer (It’s a little ritual of mine to browse this lovely newspaper on sundays – I get to know what kind of jobs are in demand, what kind of second hand cars I still can’t afford to buy and revisions to english grammar and spelling that I was hitherto unaware of) about Shree FM being Number One in Sri Lanka for the 14th consecutive quarter.

I found this absolutely hilarious, since I’d read with interest the advertisement on page 75 by Asia Broadcasting Corporation. Written rather emotionally IMHO, it starts off with “It has been revealed that certain rating agencies that compile the ratings of radio stations in the country are being bribed or influenced heavily and in turn are misleading the public” and goes on to warn “Don’t be mislead – take evasive action before it’s too late!!” in all capitals at the end. Whoever did the copy for that ad certainly shares the Dulan Abeyratne style of long-winded-sentences…

I can smell a storm brewing over advertising on radio… But seriously – you absolutely HAVE TO read these two ads together!

On a totally unrelated note, it seems Sucheta is as colourful online as he is in real life, Al-Juhara is hilarious, while Anonymous surely deserves a blog of his/her own.

My regular travel via the privatised modes of public transport is almost the only time that I ever listen to the radio anymore. The fact that this is almost entirely against my will and at ear-splitting volume only means that I either complain and earn the ire of my fellow travellers, or resign myself to total deafness. And Monday evening entertainment on the radio seems to pander to some very strange tastes…

Recently in keeping with the election aura permeating Sri Lankan society, two radio stations began a poster campaign – each claiming to be “The No. 1″ station as per the public’s manape. Since the private bus operators of the country are my only link to these stations, I’m not able to verify the claim.

Anyway, here I am on Monday evening on my way home at around 7pm. I have the misfortune to get a seat directly under a speaker in the private bus I got into. The station being tuned into is one of the two aforesaid ones, playing some pretty catchy tunes. So no complaints, except for the incredible volume that is threatening my ear-drums.

A female voice earnestly (in Sinhala) welcomes the listener to a “show” – a show about the cruel twists of fate, about the wicked ways of real life – all the way upto 10pm. Hmmm….

Then, to my utter shock, everyone listening in (or able to discern anything from the loud volume) is subjected to the story – acted out with dialogue and sound effects – of a young, possibly underaged female in some remote part of the country being drugged and raped by two men.

Why my shock? The “show” is a radio drama “based on a true story” that relates this sordid tale in 3-4 minute bursts. To liven up the otherwise dreary and cruel story, the 3-4 minute bursts are separated by lively songs, which judging from the number of times they’re played – are quite popular.

Somehow, “Rape of an underaged girl, to the accompaniment of Sri Lanka’s hit music” doesn’t sound like the most appealing of radio shows to listen to. Fine, so the sound effects were not exactly very graphic, but still??

Needless to say, I’m very disturbed by this.

As I got off the bus, I wasn’t so much consumed by a curiosity to know what the rest of the story was about, but a sense of bewilderment at the things people will do…