All India Radio (AIR) along with Vigyan Prasar, Department of Science and Technology and Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology has been broadcasting ‘Bhoorameya Bisiyusiru’ for the past 10 years, in its attempt to popularise science. The serial focuses on various subjects related to environment and the earth. It is a 52 episode programme broadcasted for 30 minutes every Sunday from 8.35 am to 9.05 am. The programme is aired in 19 languages across India.
“Every year we choose a subject related to planet earth. This year, our focus is on climate change and global warming. Though it’s widely spoken about, people are still confused if it is actually taking place. So, AIR decided to give in-depth information on this and how a common man can influence and get affected by global warming and climate change,” says Sumangala S Mummigatti, programme executive, All India Radio (AIR), Bengaluru.
The concept of the radio serial is planned in a way that the programme can be addressed to and understood by a layman, she says. As of now, only two episodes have been aired.
“Every eighth episode is an interactive session. We encourage our listeners to write letters to us about anything unusual that they have observed in their geographical area,” explains Sumangala.
Explaining the difference between climate and weather was one of the most important topics they touched upon.
“A lot of people still confuse the two words and use them interchangeably, especially in Kannada, where the words haavamana (climate) and haavaguna (weather) sound similar. This doubt was resolved in the second episode,” she adds.
Sumangala, who is the producer of the programme, is also a scriptwriter for it. Some of the other scriptwriters are Y C Kamala, G V Nirmala and N Gopala Krishna. She says that the team gets as many experts as possible to be part of the show like Nagesh Hegde, T R Ananta Rami and Venkata Swamy and T V Ramachandra.
“Our main aim is to get our listeners to participate. For our earlier editions, we have received a lot of positive responses in the form of letters, including some in braille. Our listeners can participate by answering the questions asked at the end of every episode and win prizes,” says Sumangala.
So, how important is it to have a programme that educates people of all ages about the earth and the environment?
“People use the luxuries and facilities given to them by science but hardly do they understand the impact it has on the environment. This radio serial makes an attempt to educate people about these underlying implications and why everything should be used mindfully,” adds Sumangala.
Every November or December, producers of all 19 language formats and a nodal officer meet for a brainstorming session. Here, they decide on a subject for the year and plan the content of each episode. Every language follows the same content but in their own format.
Talking about their plans, Sumangala says she and her team wants to capture real-life experiences. This, she says, will help in understanding the impact of human activities on the environment.
“I would like to see more participation from youngsters this year,” adds Sumangala.
Kannada timings
Every Sunday - 8.35 am to 9.05 am (612 KHz)