eTUKTUK, TAKING INFORMATION DOWN THE BUMPY DIRT-ROAD IN SRI LANKA
By Sajan Venniyoor
venniyoor@rediffmail.com
Up in the hills of Kothmale, about 25 kilometres southwest of
Kandy in the central highlands of Sri Lanka, a strange hybrid
vehicle can be seen sputtering along the dirt tracks of
Kothmale's villages. At first glance, it is an autorickshaw
or tuktuk, a familiar sight on the roads of South Asia and as
common on the streets of Sri Lanka as sarongs.
But this is no ordinary three-wheeler. This is the eTukTuk,
the world's first radio-station and multimedia centre on
three wheels.
In 1982, when the Mahaweli Irrigation project displaced
thousands of villagers in central Sri Lanka, the government
eased their resettlement by putting up several community
radio projects in and around the resettlement villages.
Kothmale Community Radio (KCR) came up in 1989, and while the
other 'community radio' stations soon ran into rough weather,
KCR 98.4 FM went on to become something of a legend.
On the walls of the somewhat run-down building that
houses the Kothmale CR and Multimedia Centre, there
are old, faded photographs of a slim, curly haired
young man in a sarong, deep in conversation with
local villagers. Sunil Wijesinghe, now the Station
Controller of Kothmale CR, is still the most
unassuming of men, as likely to grab a pickaxe as a
microphone and turn his hand to whatever odd job
that needs to be done around the station.
The radio station, which is part of the cash-strapped Sri
Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, runs on a shoestring budget.
Sunil and his team keep things going with a blend of
ingenuity and good humour. The studio is a marvel of
improvisation. The mixer is of venerable antiquity, as are
the spool recorders. The acoustic treatment on the walls
seems to consist -- I was afraid to ask -- of old
foam-covered coir mattresses.
The only pieces of modern broadcast equipment I could see
were a CD player and a PC, donated by UNESCO. There is just
one multi-purpose studio, and programmes have to be recorded
when the station shuts down between transmissions. A second
booth -- presently a storage room -- is awaiting conversion
into a production studio. When? I ask. "As soon as funds are
available," says Sunil Wijesinghe, echoing a common refrain
in Kothmale.
Next only to Sunil, Benjamin ("Mr. Ben") Grubb is one of the
minor marvels of Kothmale. Ben is a slim, bespectacled
Australian in his late twenties, whose air of detached
abstraction hides a sharp intellect and a passion for all
things technical. Ben Grubb came to Sri Lanka as a tourist
and -- somehow ended up -- at Kothmale, where he is now the
Project Advisor and guiding spirit behind the eTukTuk
project. He handpicked the heavy-duty battery, inverter,
mixer, amplifier, cables and all the other odds and ends that
fit snugly into the not-too-spacious interior of the tuktuk.
When the project runs out of funds - an all too common
occurrence -- Mr. Ben reportedly dips into his own resources
to keep things ticking. "My girlfriend supports me," he
deadpans.
The eTukTuk was unveiled during the World Press Freedom Day
conference (1-3 May) in Colombo this year. The bright blue
three-wheeler with its Heath Robinson interior was an instant
hit. Later that week in Colombo, the AMARC (World Association
of Community Radio Broadcasters) round table discussion on
"Community Radio and its Social Impact" was covered live by
the eTukTuk.
"With this eTukTuk, it seems to me you've got a great vehicle
both in the physical and the symbolic sense, to go out to the
communities and the neighbourhoods and to let people speak
through their community radio station," said Steve Buckley,
President of AMARC. "I think that this is a trend that is
going to catch on."
The "great" vehicle is an Indian-built Bajaj RE
(rear engine) four-stroke auto rickshaw, powerful
enough to climb the steep hills of Kothmale while
carrying what is, in effect, a complete radio
station and multimedia centre, and a couple of
operators as well.
Ben explains how the three-wheeler was stripped down and
rebuilt to his specifications by local mechanics, with
special racks to take the heavy-duty battery, inverter,
amplifier and mixer. The roof rack -- sturdy enough to
support Ben's weight -- holds two speakers.
There is a shelf for the laptop, and space to mount a CDMA
phone, scanner, camera and battery-operated printer. Even in
the remotest villages of Kothmale, the eTukTuk can get you on
the internet, scan and upload documents, download files,
print them out and take digital photographs.
Arthur C Clarke -- a Sri Lankan resident himself --
would be proud. Baffled, perhaps, but proud. A
portable 1000 watt generator produces enough
electricity to recharge the main battery and keep
the equipment running for hours.
When I reached Kothmale on 10 May, the eTukTuk was already in
its lair -- a converted kitchen in the Kothmale CR building
-- having been driven the 150 odd kilometers from Colombo to
Kothmale by a visibly tired Ben and his crew. But there was
work to be done -- a field broadcast was scheduled that
evening, the eTukTuk's first community OB (Outside Broadcast)
event in Kothmale, at the village of Weliganga.
Weliganga ('river-flats') clings to a hillside a few
kilometers downhill from KCR. As the tuktuk rolls into a
small clearing with a dilapidated shed at its far end, a
light monsoon rain begins to fall. Within minutes the crew
has fired up the transmitter and laptop, and cables snake
across the wet grass.
The tuktuk's transmitter is a vintage 50 watt FM exciter, a
clunky beast that goes back to the early days of KCR and is
too big fit anywhere except on the rooftop rack. (This is an
obvious worry for the Kothmale station -- you don't carry
sensitive broadcast equipment on an exposed rack in the
monsoon -- and they are raising the funds to buy a sleeker
model that will fit inside the tuktuk). I watch bemused as an
18 foot antenna mast is swiftly put together from three
lengths of galvanized iron pipe clamped end-to-end.
Sunil Shanta, KCR's relief announcer launches into a
practiced spiel that's fed into the twin speakers mounted on
the tuktuk's roof. Soon, the clearing and the shed fill with
an expectant crowd -- mostly women and children -- some
carrying plastic chairs and mats.
Weliganga is a Dalit village, a hamlet of drum
makers and subsistence farmers, generally shunned
by their better off neighbours. Sunil Wijesinghe,
KCR's station manager confides to me that only a
few days earlier, a local monk had stormed into his
office, outraged by the contents of a recent
programme. Apparently, the radio station had aired
the comments of Weliganga's villagers, who said
that they were not allowed entry into the local
temple. Even their children, said the villagers,
had to travel long distances to study elsewhere as
they were discriminated against in the local
school.
This could well be true, as I soon learn. Bright-eyed Achala,
a 9th standard student, tells me that she goes to school in
Ulapane, some miles away, as do her friends Nirosha, Niluka
and Nilukshika who cluster around her and nod vigorously.
With monsoon clouds rolling overhead and the shed's roof
leaking like a sieve, the show gets underway. Achala launches
into a Sinhala prayer song. Livelier numbers follow, and soon
the shed is filled with singing, clapping and dancing
youngsters, with three drummers maintaining a steady beat.
Ben Grubb dashes into the eTukTuk to check on the equipment,
and swears under his breath when he finds an audio cable
plugged into the wrong socket. Buddhika Sampath, KCR's
content creation specialist, shoos Ben away and takes over
the audio recording. Inside the shed, Sunil Shanta, the
programme presenter, works the crowd and keeps up a steady
banter.
The rain dies down to a sporadic drizzle. It is half past six
and too dark to see, but the unlit shed is still alive with
song, drumbeats and girlish laughter. Reluctantly, Sunil
winds up the proceedings. The hill roads are muddy and
punctuated by puddles, and the eTukTuk splashes its way back
to the station driven by Nishanta, the strapping
volunteer-driver.
We are persuaded to stay behind and visit a local 'kovil'.
The shrine, little more than an out-house, is bedecked with a
startling array of Hindu and Buddhist deities and presided
over by a generously proportioned shaman. Smiling broadly,
she assures us that she has the power to locate lost objects
("Ask her what happened to my MiniDisk recorder," mutters
Ben) and perform nameless acts of sorcery.
That night, over salted peanuts and duty-free Scotch at Sunil
Wijesinghe's house, it is time for a reality check. Earlier
that week in Colombo, I had heard frequent criticism that the
Kothmale community radio experiment had outlived its
usefulness. "Ask Sunil when he is going to replicate
Kothmale," said the cynical International Relations Advisor
of one of Sri Lanka's best-known NGOs.
There were constant jibes -- not least of all from former
Kothmale staff -- that the "community radio" station had very
little community involvement, since it was effectively owned
and run by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.
It is true that Kothmale's success is offset by the
comparative failure of other community radio stations that
were set up in the region at the same time as Kothmale CR.
But, as Sunil points out, it is precisely the support of the
community that sets Kothmale apart, and accounts for its
success. "This evening at Weliganga," he asks earnestly,
"did you feel that the community is not involved?"
Nevertheless, Kothmale is an exception. Sri Lanka is
not the only country in South Asia without a proper
community radio policy. In Colombo, I bump into AHM
Bazlur Rahman of BNNRC (Bangladesh NGOs Network for
Radio & Communication) at an international ICT
conference. Bazlur-bhai and I perform what's by now
a familiar ritual. "What's the latest on your CR
policy?" I ask. Bazlur Rahman shrugs eloquently;
"Many promises, no policy." "Same in India," I say,
as we ponder the mysteries of broadcast regulation
in the subcontinent.
India's community radio policy has been in the pipeline for
so long that it seems to have congealed. A draft policy was
sent for Cabinet approval on 6 October 2005, and then
referred to a Group of Ministers. Seven months on, the GoM
has yet to meet and take a decision on the new policy, which
promises to open up the airwaves to community groups. No one
is holding his breath.
In Kothmale, Sunil is a worried man. Mr. Ben's finances are
somewhat precarious and he needs to return to Australia to
replenish his bank balance. "Please tell him to stay," urges
Sunil, agitatedly splashing Sprite into his Johnny Walker.
They are very fond of Ben at Kothmale. But Ben is gazing
moodily into his half-empty glass, as if seeking his missing
MD recorder in its amber depths. He doesn't want to leave
Kothmale either, but he has little choice.
Buddhika, Sunil Shanta and Nishanta are in animated
conversation, and occasionally seek my opinion on
broadcasting by tuktuk. Mellowed by the Scotch and cool
mountain air, I try to find parallels between the massive OB
vans of All India Radio -- lumbering juggernauts of broadcast
technology -- and the nimble little tuktuk. I soon give up.
Clearly, the eTukTuk is one of a kind. One can only hope - as
Steve Buckley prophesies -that the trend will catch on and
that swarms of eTukTuks will boldly go where no broadcast van
has gone before.
[A shorter version of this article was published in
Frontline, the prominent Indian news-magazine,
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20060714002009000.htm
BytesForAll thanks Sajan Veniyoor for sharing this article
with readers via their mailing list. --FN]
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