A lasting legacy: Every year, Mahalaya keeps city's last radioman buried in work

Kolkata: Mahalaya and radio are inseparable! We might be addicted to our smartphones and headsets but listening to Birendra Krishna Bhadra's Mahisasuramardini programme on radio is like an annual ritual for every Bengali. 63-year-old Amit Ranjan Karmakar hardly gets time to return home before the big day.

Though the business has seen a gradual dip, Kolkata's radio man still gets a handful of old sets to repair just before Mahalaya sets in. His small shop on 40, Banamali Sarkar Street in the heart of Kumartuli, the potters' colony, also becomes a busy spot before the big day.

"Before Mahalaya, I usually stay late in the shop and repair the sets till 1 am or 2 am. These days, mostly the valve radio sets come in for repair. Mahalaya is the time when Bengalis need the radio to listen to the baritone of Birendra Krishna Bhadra on Akashvani. Even those who have never listened to a radio before, tune in on Mahalaya. Therefore the sets, which are not in working condition, come to me. Mahalaya has never disappointed me. It has inundated me with work," said the vintage radio repairer of Kolkata, who has more than 150 antique radio sets in his shop.

Karmakar has been opening his shop at 7 am sharp every day since 1976. In fact, when the Durga Puja celebrations were muted over the last two years because of the Covid pandemic, the radio man of Kolkata said Mahalaya gave him work. "Covid didn't stop people from listening to Birendra Krishna Bhadra on Akashvani and I got to repair some old sets," smiled the grand old radio man of Kolkata, who has repaired vintage sets like Murphy, Telefunken, Bush and Phillips.