Since January 2017, some 400 fisherwomen at Chinna Nilangarai Kuppam, off ECR, have added a detail to their morning routine. At 10.30 am, they switch on their radios to Thendral (91.2 MHz) for their favourite programme, Magale Unakkaga (This one’s for you, daughter!). The signature song led by R Jayanthi wafts in, followed by a standard introduction and the programme is on. Those who miss it tune in just after lunch, or at 8 pm — the time slots preferred by most women and girls who form the bulk of the show’s listeners.
“This is a unique participatory community radio project,” said Nithya Balaji, chairperson, Nalamdana and principal investigator for the programme. It was conceived under the umbrella ‘Science for Women’s Health and Nutrition’, and is supported by National Council for Science & Technology Communication & Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi. Nalamdana, with its 25-year record in behaviour change communication techniques, was roped in for implementation. “We named it Magale Unakkaga to underline the theme — the programme is ‘for women, by women’.”
Nalamdana’s core group (Balaji, P Oyyavanadhan, R Jeevanandhan, M Sampath, P Deepan Chakkravarthi, K Bharathiraja, R Karlmarks) meets regularly to check on the topics and plan weekly/monthly episodes. The advisory board members provide contacts for “expert inputs.”
The fisherwomen, who run the show, brainstorm topics four times a week in a hired room at the kuppam, do field interviews and sit at the studio for recording, editing and fine-tuning. They do live phone-ins as well. In any given week, you’ll hear an interview with a subject expert, a skit, song, and a quiz. The monthly special event at the community centre is recorded for broadcast. Related sequences emerge as the episodes reach listeners.
Through a heart-warming hour, the enthusiastic team of seven women producers tells me how going on air has been a turnaround for them and the community the broadcast serves. S Renuka Devi participated in an event organised by the radio before she came on board six months ago. V Jayshree called in to answer a quiz question before she became a community voice. Curiosity brought in M Anandhi, an articulate homemaker. “I wanted my voice heard on radio,” she says. She was trained at the rigorous 10-day workshop.
Training for them started from scratch. Following a baseline survey, a workshop was organised in January 2017 for the women who would be co-ordinators and producers. They had to choose topics, learn what a survey was, conduct surveys/interviews and edit content. They had to keep themselves informed on the topics chosen, pick questions, write/enact skits, sing jingles, narrate stories and answer questions. “We collected data on the kuppam women and prepared reports.” From homemakers to radio anchors, the transition was tough but exhilarating.
Going door-to-door, asking women to join on-and-off-air conversations was tougher. “Most said we were wasting time,” says Anandhi. “Others told us to go away and not create problems for them at home.” All that’s changed in the last 12 months. “When we did an episode on puberty, a woman stopped me in the street to discuss her teenage daughter’s problem. I am a fisherwoman with BA and B.Ed degrees. Only now do I feel truly empowered,” says L Premalatha.
“We are popular,” says T Geetha. “People say, ‘Thendral FM povuthu,’ when they see us on the road.” Jayshree’s teenagers are proud of her, “and listen to my advice. My husband would never listen to the radio, but now he looks for a spot where the transmission is clear.” It took V Jagadeeswari great effort to just hold a mic. “Dhairiyam illai, I rarely left home,” she says. Now she is a confident field interviewer. That’s a common story, says M Nirmala, whotook part in a play, and now her children want her to do more.”
From a hesitant start — just two or three women had initially signed up — battling low self-esteem and negativity, Magale Unakkaga has blossomed into a vehicle of help and empowerment. “Family attitudes have changed,” says Anandhi. “My 10-year-old insists that I go to Delhi. Maybe I could have done more.” Geetha laughs, saying, “My 17-year-old son says, ‘Mom now knows a lot and talks non-stop. But can you please keep your answers short?’”
Participation in the community events has swelled. During Breastfeeding Week, a woman brought in her three-day-old infant for consultation. Recipes demonstrated at the Nutrition Mela were a hit. Kuppam women who hesitated to visit Corporation health centres come in to listen to Dr Kalaiselvan from VHS. When there was a spate of suicides in the area, listeners asked for a programme on its prevention. The team invited volunteers from SNEHA for an interview and phone-in. “Listenership too has increased.”
(Magale Unakkaga episodes will run till April 13, 2018. Funding will extend it.)