Where is Jhumri Telaiya? by G Swaminathan

Where is Jhumri Telaiya?

by G Swaminathan

It was my college days when I started listening to Hindi film songs after the release and thunderous success of ‘Aaradhana’ at Chennai and in Tamil Nadu. Our only source was the then famous Vividh Bharati where we had those ‘Aap Ke Anurodh’, ‘Man Chaahe Geet’ and ‘Jayamaala’ etc when we happened to listen and enjoy the famous songs.

These programs were just for 30 minutes or at times one hour. The songs will be announced with the name of the lyricist and music director apart from the names of the singers and film. Our ears will be glued to the radio and radio Ceylon but there used to be a lot of disturbance in my home’s radio. So Vividh Bharati was our preference.

If we hear the name of the lyricist ‘geet kaar Anand Bhakshi’ we knew what will follow; sangeetkaar will be RD Burman, SD Burman or Laximikant Pyarelel. So we had several wonderful combinations like this. Sahir Ludiyanvi, Shakeel Badayuni with Naushad Indeevar and Gulshan Bawra and Kalyanji Anandji, Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri with Shankar Jaikishen, SH Bihari with OP Nayyar, Raja Mehadi Ali Khan with Madan Mohan, Varma Malik with Sonik-Omi and apart from these we had a host of lyricists like Majrooh Sultanpuri, Sameer, Anjaan, and the popular poets like Gulzar, Kaifi Azmi, Dev Kohli, Nida Fazli and Maya Govind and their poetic talents were exemplary. There were lyricists like Jan Nissar Akhtar, Qamar Jalalbadi and Naqsh Lyal Puri, MG Hashmat, Gauhar Kanpuri.

Somehow I felt those years the lyricists, music composer name combination itself carried a musical tenor and almost many of the songs were melodic and could be recalled even today.

In the ‘Man Chaahe Geet’ program the names of the listeners will be announced. A constant name there would be 'Jhumri Telaiya se Babu Rao Chakole!' Those who had been listening this program would not have forgotten this name and place!

By the way, I don’t know and at that time cared to know where Jhumri Telaiya is and who is Babu Rao Chakole! But, today when I trace those songs in the internet and listen I yearn to know about the place and the person!

Surprisingly the present day’s 24x7 channels and FM radios and the nonstop music do not impress me. I like those half an hour program which was so precious and dear to me.

Post Script: Jhumri Telaiya is a city in the Koderma District of Jharkhand, India. It is situated in the Damodar Valley. Jhumri is the name of the original village in the area, which is now located in the city. The word "Telaiya" is the Hindi language word for a small lake (the Tilaiya Dam reservoir). The word Jhumri itself may have originated from "Jhuri", the local word for "bush", which is commonly used as fuel for cooking in the villages. Jhumri is also said to be a local folk dance.

Association with Vividh Bharati : Originally a little-known town, Jhumri Telaiya became famous in India in 1957 owing to its connection with Vividh Bharati, a nationally broadcast radio service of the All India Radio. At a time when numerous television channels and FM radio stations were yet to come to India, the Vividh Bharati radio shows were a national phenomenon. The largest number of requests for film songs addressed to the channel came from Jhumri Telaiya. Young listeners from the town would compete among themselves to send out the most song requests in a day or month. Vividh Bharati Radio listeners thus became familiar with the town of Jhumri Telaiya. Many listeners of Vividh Bharti used to doubt the existence of such a village, and thus the "Jhumri Talaiya" came to be associated with any less-known or insignificant place. This reference is found in several Hindi movies and songs. For example, the movie Mounto (1975) features a song titled Mein Toh Jhumri Taliyah Seh Aeyehi Hun ("I've come from Jhumri Talaiya").

Thank You Wikipaedia!

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08-Jun-2012

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Comments on this Article

Thank you Vaibhav,

Though VERY YOUNG you have a liking for the old songs played in Vividh Bharati and once which was the only source for us to listen to the melodies of the Hindi songs at that time. I am happy you have the courtesy to appreciate it...Thank you very much....

G Swaminathan
01/15/2015 20:37 PM

I landed here searching about Vividh Bharti over net, and it took me down the memory lane..completely nostalgic..No I''m not that old I''m an adolescent 21, but I grew up in a small town Sironj, Madhya Pradesh listening to radio channels and there would be a lot of disturbance yet we somehow managed to listen to the jingles..I remember since there is no frequency of Vividh Bharti in Sironj I used to climb up our roof and try to tune in to Vividh Bharti. Thanks.

Vaibhav Jandey
01/15/2015 03:19 AM

Nice article...took me down the memory lane. BTW, there must be an error with the name Baburao Chakole...sounds a very Marathi name from Maharashtra and not a Bihari name.

Thanks for taking time to write this story.

Ramesh Soni
06/04/2014 06:42 AM

Dear Mr Ravi,

Thank you very much for appreciating my writeup on your place Jumri Telaiya. I have seen your website and felt thrilled in a way that how much interest you have taken to highlight the special features of your place and city. Nice work and Great feeling...Thank you again...

G Swaminathan
05/09/2014 11:48 AM

I am extremely happy to read this article sir. You have shared a nice experience. It's my home town as well so i have decided to do at least a little for it. I have started two websites for Jhumri Telaiya. first is http://www.jhumritelaiyacity.com where i try to published latest updates from jhumri telaiya.

Other is http://www.jhumri-telaiya.com where user can aks there questions related to jhumri telaiya.

Thanks

Regards
Ravi

Ravi Kumar
05/08/2014 06:04 AM

Mr. G Swaminathan, Baburao Chakole was from KAMTHEE and not jhumri tallaiya.From Jhumri Tallaiyya it was someone with Nargis.

Uday
08/27/2012 00:02 AM

Thank you Sanghamitra for the acknowledgment..if not for anything we should be thankful to the internet era for connecting people from different corners of the country on a common topic..since you work for the press please do read my other writeups also and offer your valuable comments..by the way I have been writing book reviews and music reviews for Indian Express (Chennai) a decade before...thank you once again..

Iview
06/11/2012 07:40 AM

Thank you for writing about my hometown. Here is a piece I had written for the newspaper I work with as senior assistant editor. http://www.indianexpress.com/news/where-are-you-going-this-winter-jhumri-telaiya/325656/

sanghamitra mazumdar
06/11/2012 01:07 AM

Thank you Mr Chandra Mouli for sharing my emotions, yes, the other two places Rajnand Gaon and Bhatapara were also quite familiar and we yearn to listen to those melodies because they have specific time and in a limited manner. Today, we have entertainment in abundance and the music is noisy and so it has turned just overdose.
This clearly shows that limited supply of anything of good quality is always valuable and delectable...Thank you once again.

G Swaminathan
06/09/2012 22:26 PM

Thanks for a wonderful write up, sir.Yes, we recall those days and the lovely melodies Vividh Bharathi offered.In 'Abhiman' Asrani tells Amitabh, his friend that he will get requests for the hero's songs from Jhumri Taleyah. Other familiar places we remember are Rahnand Gaon and Bhatapara, both loated between Nagpur and Durg, another familiar name those days.
Memebrs of the present generation may wonder at our fondness for certain places and names.

T.S.Chandra Mouli
06/09/2012 13:37 PM

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