Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee |
13.11.22
BBC@100
BBC
will complete its 100 years of broadcasting tomorrow. It was on 14 November
1922 that it began its first broadcasting at 6 pm. It was formed on 18 October
1922 by a group of leading wireless manufacturers including Marconi. It
grew to be one of the most trusted news broadcaster across the world though
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose used to call it 'Bluff and Blaster Corporation'.
The BBC has had many
milestones in its history. In 1932, King George V was the first British monarch
to broadcast on radio, and his voice was heard for the first time by millions
simultaneously. The broadcast inaugurated the start of the BBC Empire Service,
the forerunner to the BBC World Service. It launched the world's first
regularly scheduled TV service in 1936.
In 1953, the BBC's
coverage of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation was the first time that most people
at the time had watched an event on television.
In
June 1960 BBC Television Centre opened. Designed by Graham Dawbarn, it was the
first purpose built television production centre in the world to be conceived.
In
January 1970 The BBC and The Open University joined forces to create a
long-standing partnership which transformed access to university education.
By
1990s BBC was moving towards digital technology. The next two decades saw
several technological innovations.
No other broadcaster in the world has had such
a diverse, exciting and long history. Though BBC is struggling financially
which has forced it to stop many services, it still has the zest and
credibility quotient, and that would see it through another century and
another. Hopefully.
Remembering Vepa Rao Sir
As I
write this, it has been 10 days that his body has been consigned to flames,
ashes put into different rivers and 'celebration' organised as per his last
wishes. Vepa Rao, the man with untidy look with out-sized kurta and unkempt
beard and a heart of gold passed away at Hyderabad, his place of birth on 1
November, 2022.
 |
| Prof. Vepa Rao |
He
was known as a teacher par excellence. His life was devoted to the pursuit of
knowledge, teaching and looking after his innumerous number of students. Being
a bachelor probably helped. His modest flat in Shimla was always open for his
students and friends.
It
was a tour through Himachal Pradesh in late 1980s that he decided to make hills
his second home. He was then the Editor of Sunday Magazine of Hindustan Times.
He left the job and joined the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, as a
resident fellow in 1987. He worked on ‘Communication and Development’ and his
research took the form of a book — “A Curve in the Hills”.
He
founded the Journalism department at Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) in 1990.
He also headed the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal, Odisha
for a brief stint in 1996-97 and then returned to HPU.
After
retirement he was associated with The Statesman for quite some time and taught
at the Statesman Media School. He also used to write for the Statesman from
Shimla.
The
Himachal Pradesh government awarded him for development journalism in 1997. He
was conferred with an honorary D. Lit by the HPU for his contribution to the
field of journalism after his retirement in 2006.
He
made the Himalayas his home. He used to visit IIMC, Dhenkanal sparingly on his
way to Hyderabad in the winters. But he always returned to the lap of the
Himalayas. Not this time.
May
you rest in peace Sir.
A new biography of Babsaheb
Many biographies of Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar have
been written over time. ‘Dr. Ambedkar Life
and Mission’ by Dhananjay Keer,
published in 1954 is considered to be the first full-length biography of
Ambedkar. In this book Keer gives a detailed account of the life history of the
chief architect of the Indian Constitution, starting from his early childhood.
Some of the chapters in this book are on his childhood and youth,
self-development, spat with Gandhiji, verdict on Hinduism, making of the
Constitution and taking to Buddhism.
In
October 2022, Sashi Tharur has published a biography titled ‘Ambedkar: A Life’,
in which he traces the arc of Ambedkar’s life from his birth into a family of Mahars
in the Bombay Presidency on 14 April 1891 to his death in Delhi on 6 December
1956. He describes the many humiliations and hurdles Ambedkar had to overcome
in a society that stigmatized the community he was born into, and the
single-minded determination with which he overcame every obstacle he
encountered, the various battles Ambedkar fought to make untouchability
illegal, his disputes with the other political and intellectual giants of his
era, including Gandhi and Nehru, and his determination to invest India with a
visionary Constitution that enshrined within it the inalienable rights of the
individual and modern conceptions of social justice. ‘In so doing,’ writes
Tharoor, ‘he transformed the lives of millions yet unborn, heaving an ancient
civilization into the modern era through the force of his intellect and the
power of his pen.’
Most of the biographies (some of them are
actually hagiographies), including Tharur’s look at the public persona of
Ambedkar. Not much was known about the human side of Ambedkar.
Recently the English translation of a biography
of Ambedkar originally written by his second wife Savita Ambedkar in Marathi has
been published that offers a peek into the private side of Ambedkar. Born into
a middle-class, Sarasvat Brahmin family, Dr Sharada Kabir met and got to know
Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar as a patient riddled with life-threatening diseases, and
eventually married him on 15 April 1948, getting rechristened as Savita
Ambedkar. From the day of their wedding to the death of Dr Ambedkar on 6
December 1956, she aided him in some of his greatest achievements-drafting the
Constitution of India, framing the Hindu Code Bill, writing some of his most
celebrated books, including ‘The Buddha and His
Dhamma’, and leading millions of Dalits into Buddhism. Following his
death, she was hounded into obscurity by some of Dr Ambedkar's followers, who
saw her as a threat to their political ambitions. She re-emerged into public
life in 1970 and got back to working on the mission to which her husband had
devoted his life-the welfare of the Dalit community. Her autobiography, ‘Dr Ambedkaraanchya Sahavaasaat’, was first published
in Marathi in 1990.
This English translation by Nadeem Khan
unearths a much valuable and forgotten account, an intimate portrait of one of
the greatest figures of the twentieth century. Savita Ambedkar brings alive a
different side of her husband: a man who wrote romantic letters, dictated what
she should wear, whipped up delicious mutton curry, played the violin, and even
tried his hand at sculpting and attempted to learn driving and failed. This is
a book that humanizes Ambedkar as no other book has done yet. It shows Babasaheb from a new perspective, a very private
persona of a very public person.
I have
read the book. It is a wonderful read, thanks to the subject, narrative and
also to the excellent translation by Nadeem Khan.
I
might translate this book into Odia and Bengali (with Sambit Pal).
++
This column is published every Sunday in Sikkim Express and www.prameyanews.com
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