“He rode the air waves like a knight on a charger, and people across the country huddled next to the radio, waiting for Ameen Sayani to pick and choose songs of the era and play it to them.”
Nidhi Jamwal*
Wednesday evenings were sacrosanct. Come rain, hail, illness, science viva or mathematics examination, we religiously tuned in to the radio every Wednesday at 8 PM sharp. Living in a hill town nestled in Chenab valley in Jammu & Kashmir with not much connection with the outside world, we often felt ‘left out’.
But not when it came to Binaca Geetmala (later rechristened Cibaca Geetmala), which was broadcasted from 1952 to 1994. Ameen Sayani’s velvety voice came riding on the airwaves from hundreds of kilometres away and for the next half an hour, we were just like anyone else in the Indian sub-continent who were glued to their radio sets.
There was a collective surge of joy as we heard his opening greeting… ‘Jee haan behnon aur bhaiyon, main hoon aapka dost Ameen Sayani’ (Hello brothers and sisters, I am your friend Ameen Sayani).
It didn’t matter that Sayani saab was decades older than us. He was our dost! He played the top ten Hindi movie songs of the time, in a thrilling countdown, which ended with ‘pehle payedan’ song (the number one song of the Geetmala).
I don’t remember how old I was when I first heard Sayani saab’s voice on my father’s precious radio. But I do know it was his broadcast that got me hooked to the radio.
Even the beloved Chitrahaar on Doordarshan did not compare to the Geetmala. We looked forward not just to the songs, but also the anecdotes he shared, that left a lasting impression on me.
I still remember how on Wednesday evenings, all play would be suspended as we rushed to the nearest radio in our colony to listen to him and the songs he was going to play for us that day.
He was still there in our teens with our raging hormones. Romantic songs got our hearts aflutter and there would be a blush on more than one cheek. With no taped music or playlists, Ameen Sayani’s voice and the songs in his show were the only balm to an aching heart. We hummed along, dreamed our dreams and laughed along with him.
Sometimes thunderstorms or heavy rainfall would disrupt the airwaves and we prayed the weather settled before the clock struck eight. We pulled out the long antennae of the radio and moved it in all directions, desperately trying to hear Sayani saab’s voice. A cheer went up when through all the static, his voice emerged.
A sad day for Indian radio fans yesterday, February 20, when Ameen Sayani passed away at the age of 91 after suffering a heart attack in Mumbai. But can his voice ever fall silent?
Gulzar had famously written, Naam gum jaayegaa, Chehara ye badal jayegaa, Meri aavaaz hi pahachaan hai, Gar yaad rahe…’ And, to his fans, his voice will remain forever.
*Nidhi Jamwal is a journalist based in Mumbai.
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