**The Good Days of Radio Pakistan (Karachi)
**By Raju Jamil
The other day, while passing by the new building of Radio Pakistan Broadcasting House and Karachi Station near the Civic Centre, a lot of memories of an ardent listener of the good old days of Radio Pakistan-Karachi, flashed past my mind.
The present building of RP’s Broadcasting House on M.A.Jinnah Road, opposite Theosiphical Hall, was inaugurated in 1949. In 1957, it was Radio Pakistan that ruled our young lives. Starting from our first interest Bachon Ki Dunya which was broadcast live and moderated by Late Abdul Majid every Sunday morning at 10 am, the interest grew in some serious programmes of which the evergreen Studio Number Nau broadcast every Saturday night at 9 pm, was like food for everyone. Radio had become an essential item (like a cable TV system these days). Imported radio brands ruled the radio world and were not so costly. Radio antenna (then called aerial) was a must to obtain earthing for clear reception as the transmission power was not all that strong. I remember my sisters and cousins holding the aerial in their hands for better reception, totally glued to the radio for Studio Number Nau dramas.
Saleem Ahmed and Syed Ahmed Riffat commanded the scenario with their classic writings, equally well directed by the then pundits of drama section like Razi Akhtar Shauq. Amongst the artists, the key names were Talat Hussain, Sajida Syed, Talat Siddiqui, Mughal Bashar, Ibrahim Nafees, Mehmood Ali, Abdul Majid, Sahab Qizilbash, Santosh Russell, Qazi Wajid (he came in a little later), and the list goes on. A majority of radio drama artists conquered PTV-K when it was commissioned in 1969.
The most remembered of Studio Number Nau plays was Light House Ka Muhafiz by Syed Ahmed Riffat (1959-60), in which Abdul Majid played the role of the son and father. The story was of a supervisor of a lighthouse whose son was bitten by a dog. Due to the illness contracted from the bite the son kept asking for water which was not allowed by the doctor. The exchange of dialogue between the father and son were so intense and full of drama that the listeners literally wiped their tears when the son finally dies, with the supervisor proceeding to perform his duty of signalling the ships in between a severe storm the area was gripped in.
On the lighter side the play titled Rooh Ka Chakkar by Saleem Ahmed, is another one people of my age would fondly remember of the 1960’s period. The cast had Talat Hussain, Zafar Siddiqui and Sajida Syed and the story involved an exchange of spirits between the hero and his uncle. The comedy rolled us all over laughing our daylights out! Of serious romance and afsana one can never forget Ibrahim Nafees’s superb performance and delivery of dialogue in Razi Akhtar Shauq’s play, Rahein in which Sajida Syed played the lead with Ibrahim Nafees.
The plot of the story was very powerful and focused on a commitment which could not be kept by the hero. One hopes that the archives section of Radio Pakistan-Karachi has maintained the recordings of the famous plays of Studio Number Nau. I would suggest that select plays be transferred to the FM section for broadcasting through special publicity and scheduled for Saturday nights, to rekindle the good old days of Radio Pakistan. Comments of drama artists Talat Hussain, Sajida Syed, Ibrahim Nafees and Mehmood Ali should be recorded. It would be a good gesture to remember the great works which enthralled the audience who are grandparents today and who can tell their children and grandchildren that instead of commercialism there existed a pure thought of entertaining the listeners on radio through such productions. It will be a great homage to those producers and writers who gave us such classic entertainment and who are not amongst us now.
In FM service, we get to feel the dead body of English being carried off every night in various programmes involving calls from listeners and questions from the moderators. I am not criticizing the misuse of English language. Obviously it’s not our mother tongue, but then again what’s the rush and necessity to do a programme in minglish English. But the service should, in all probability, revive the good old days of Radio Pakistan’s Studio Number Nau and the famous Jashn-e-Tamseel which, one is proud to say, are still remembered by some.
-end
(This article was published in weekly IMAGES of DAWN on 25 Nov-2001)