IN HINDUISM, nine planets knowns as the Navagrahas, are believed to have an influence on the world and on an individual. They are worshipped to overcome any hindrance, obstacle or bad luck. Southside FM radio station needs bad luck prayers.
The radio station was launched on Friday, May 13, 2022, with programmes catering mainly for those of South Indian descent - Tamils and Telugus. Was it perhaps launching the station during a month considered inauspicious by Hindus that has caused it to lurch from one crisis to another, without any respite?
You see, according to the Tamil almanac (panchangam), there is a period of around 27 days during the month of May, which is known as “Kathiri” and is considered inauspicious for any major undertaking such as buying a house, a new vehicle or getting married.
Now I am no believer in the so-called evil attached to Kathiri, or any other period. For me, every second of every minute of every hour of every day is beautiful. It all depends on what you do with the time.
I know that each May, India is a boiling cauldron. It is so hot that people, especially in South India, dread the extreme heat and think twice about venturing out during the day. Hence, there are no public events or labour-intensive activities such as on construction sites.
Many people believe that journeys made during this period will be unsuccessful, money lent will not be returned, diseases will not be cured easily, marriages will not be happy, and so on. Many people in South Africa slavishly follow Kathiri’s threats, never mind that in May it is not hot as we are approaching winter. And guess what? Southside FM happened to have been launched during Kathiri 2022.
It took at least a decade for the radio station to acquire a broadcasting licence since the idea of a radio station for South Indian folk was first mooted to cater for their vernacular and cultural needs. And when the station was awarded a frequency, it was restricted to a small part of KwaZulu-Natal.
About R700 000 was raised through donations by members of the community to set up the radio station’s infrastructure. Some die-hard Tamilians made small donations - all that they could afford - in the hope that the radio station would be launched and thrive.
Members of a committee tasked with starting the radio station under the leadership of Sally Padayachie, whose late husband Minister Roy Padayachie, championed the campaign for a South Indian radio station, gave their time and resources voluntarily. Thus it came as a shock to me when the first Kathitri salvo was fired by the Gods and the committee decided to pay the secretary Subry Govender a huge sum of R100 000 as honorarium for services that he rendered voluntarily. Was this the start of the station’s financial woes?
Then when it was expected that the radio station would start broadcasting by April 2020, the Covid-19 lockdown postponed the launch.
After the lockdown, Durban businessman and philanthropist Logan Naidoo generously offered his property in Musgrave Road, Durban, to be used by Southside FM for its broadcasting studio. He renovated the property at a personal cost of R300 000 and offered seed capital for broadcasting equipment and salaries.
From the first day, the reception or sound quality left much to be desired. Southside FM reminded me of the days in the early ‘60s when using a crude home-made antenna on the roof, we would tune in to radio stations in India and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) to stay in touch with the Motherland. There would be much hissing and fading but we persevered just to listen to P Susheela, TM Soundararajan, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi and other notable singers.
Radio broadcasting technology has come a long way since then. But Southside FM has battled to have clear interference-free reception. Another Kathiri arrow?
After its initial settling in period, Naidoo could no longer pour funds into a bottomless pot. With low listenership and geographical coverage, the station was unable to attract any substantial sponsorships or advertising to make it financially feasible. Despite his best intentions to support a cultural pursuit, Naidoo broke ties. After all, he is a businessman and cannot support loss-making ventures.
The radio station was taken over by the Tamil Business Warriors (TBW) and was forced to relocate to new premises adjacent to the Westcliff, Chatsworth office of the Natal Tamil Vedic Society Trust. The TBW spent a lot of money setting up a world-class studio. An outside broadcast vehicle was purchased to take the station to the people. But still no manna fell from heaven.
Like most media going through financial hard times, Southside FM failed to attract any significant advertising and struggled to pay office rental, salaries and other costs. On numerous occasions radio jockeys were not paid at month end.
A fortnight ago, popular and seasoned RJ, Vijayluxmi Balakrishna, who hosted Sangeetha Nilayamu on Lotus FM for many years before moving to Southside FM, resigned after being unable to survive on an empty pay packet. As a Telugu anchor, this was a big loss to Southside FM.
What was not done right at Southside FM? First, it must be remembered that as a community radio station Southside FM has a niched listenership within a minority community and is thus susceptible to financial challenges because of limited reach for advertisers. Community radio is different from commercial and public service radio.
Community radio anywhere in the world is committed to community development rather than profit. It provides access to the airwaves to under-represented voices; is based at grassroots level and serves a distinct local community; and is established and run primarily by volunteers and activists rather than paid staff. It has two crucial features: it is not run for financial profit; and it is made by a community, for the benefit of that community.
Social media has taken a major slice of advertising revenue from all radio stations. Those who formed Southside FM were not too aware of the growing effects of social media - their zeal to sustain and showcase rich South Indian languages, music and heritage were over-powering.
While the Gods were not smiling on Southside FM since day one, one thing they got right was to bring in the experience of Tansen Nepaul as station manager. He is well respected for his wealth of radio knowledge. In fact, it is thanks to the perseverance, dedication and motivation of Nepaul, that Southside FM remains on air.
There is talk that the Natal Tamil Vedic Society Trust wants to take over Southside FM. This may be throwing more good money after bad. The Trust owns properties and has money in the bank, all because of donations by Tamil stalwarts and patrons of yesteryear. This money must not be ploughed into a failing radio station. And in any case the Trust has been doing minimal promotion and propagation of Tamil language and culture in recent years. Worse still, it has no mass constituency, unlike the Hindi Shiksha Sangh whose successful Radio Hindvani is a veritable voice of Hindi.
There is need to grow greater pride for language and culture among Tamils and Telugus. The South Indian community must go all out to save Southside FM. Every proud member of Tamil and Telugu heritage should pledge a small amount - even R10 per month - to keep the radio station afloat. South Indian businessmen must adopt Southside FM as a corporate social responsibility programme.
Zane Ibrahim, an anti-apartheid fighter, who established South Africa’s first community radio station, Bush Radio, should be consulted for guidance. Many fledgling community radio projects seek his advice world-wide.
And most important, members of the community must form a committee that takes over and governs Southside FM.
This, I believe, is the only way to dispel the myth of Kathiri.
Yogin Devan is a media consultant and social commentator. Share your comments with him on: yogind@meropa.co.za
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.