As the 50th episode of Mann Ki Baat will broadcast on Sunday, it is time to look back at the unique monthly radio address which started in October 2014 and has had a memorable run.
When you say 'Mann Ki Baat' there's hardly anyone who won't get what you are talking about, such has been its impact. It transformed our Prime Minister Narendra Modi into a school-teacher, a sports guide, a philanthropist, a counsellor, an ambassador of peace and brotherhood.
People in different parts of India speaking regional languages, and those that form the Indian Diaspora and those who are not Indians but have a deep interest in Indian affairs, all get versions of the PM's address in their language, including in English and Sanskrit. Mann Ki Baat is the most widely disseminated radio broadcast in the world, making it an example of what is best in public service broadcasting.
It is unique in many respects. First, it is an unexpurgated broadcast — spontaneous, candid, uninhibited and straight from the heart — from the PM. Secondly, it is digitally created spoken word disseminated through terrestrial mode, DTH and internet platforms. Thirdly, the programme is designed to invoke reciprocity, leading to a deluge of letters and feedback on the MyGov portal from people sharing their trials, tribulations, concerns and aspirations with their PM. Yet another feature is crowd sourcing to elicit suggestions and inputs for subsequent episodes in a self-effacing gesture by the PM.
Let's rewind to some of the milestones: In December 2014, the Modi government had launched 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' — a programme aimed at bringing about a societal transformation in the way the girl child is treated, with a special focus upon more than a 100 gender-sensitive districts which had a skewed sex ratio.
A few months later, a sarpanch clicked a selfie with his daughter in a Haryana village. Little did they know that they would end up creating a worldwide trend.
Commoners, cricketers, celebrities, international diplomats, politicians, media persons and even people from other countries tweeted and posted their #SelfieWithDaughter.
Mann Ki Baat and Swachh Bharat are connected in more ways than one. For starters, while Swachh Bharat was launched on October 2, 2014, the first episode of Mann Ki Baat went on air on October 3, 2014, the very next day.
The next connection is that Mann Ki Baat, for the PM, has been one of the important platforms in strengthening the cleanliness mission and making it a more people-driven movement. Most episodes of the radio address, if not all, have some element relating to 'swachhata' in them.
In many editions of Mann Ki Baat, the PM mentioned interesting but inspiring anecdotes from the lives of common people who want to see a cleaner India. One especially endearing phone call was from a boy, a child in fact. He called the PM on the number dedicated for Mann Ki Baat inputs. He had a one-line command: 'Ensure availability of dustbins in every street'.
This was, at once, both a vindication and an indication. It was a vindication of the Mann Ki Baat platform that it gave a voice to a child who wanted to be heard on an important issue as well as an indication of how much the message of a clean India has percolated into the minds of the generation that will create the India of tomorrow.
Youth, especially students, as well as lifestyle issues have been a regular focus of Mann Ki Baat. The PM had dedicated one complete episode in February 2016 to the topic of facing exams in a stress-free manner. People who faced tremendous pressure themselves and excelled, such as Sachin Tendulkar, Viswanathan Anand and Prof CNR Rao, too, featured in this episode giving valuable, non-preachy, simple tips to students. Later, the PM went on to write the best-selling book 'Exam Warriors' on the same topic.
Speaking of exams and stress, there was another related topic: Depression. PM Modi charted the way out of depression in his own unique way when he advocated for expression rather than suppression to help oneself come out of depression.
He stressed on communication, creation of a psychologically conducive environment, support of family and friends, professional help and Yoga to win against lifestyle diseases like depression that are often trivialised and stigmatised.
From the girl child to students' stress, from cleanliness to coming out of depression, the PM has often utilised Mann Ki Baat as a platform to evocatively make society speak to itself by speaking to him. Mann Ki Baat has become a conversation that millions of Indians look forward to, with their cup of tea on a Sunday every month.
Author is Director General, All India Radio
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