Radio

Recently, I took a trip to a local park to shoot some photographs and I decided, for a change, to turn on my car stereo and listen to the radio. I'm a big fan of radio programs, but I find myself annoyed by the commercial advertisements which all seem to be done by the same three or four people with the most annoying voices you could find in any creation. On this particular day, I decided to turn to a Christian station and I am glad I did for the program transported me back to my young days in my native Central African country of Rwanda.

Rwanda, in the late eighties and early nineties, was a place lagging behind...okay, faaaar behind...technologically as we had one national radio station, which did not operate twenty-four hours a day. Later on, around nineteen-ninety-three, if I'm not mistaken, a second radio station was created. About a year or so earlier, a television station had been created also, but this was a luxury many people, including us, did not have the pleasure of indulging in. So, the radio - our dear radio - was the link that connected the whole country. News, music, death notices, soccer matches, all came to us through the radio and it was not unusual to find the whole household - and a few neighbors who were unable to afford one of their own - seated around a single, mono set cheering on their respective soccer teams or just listening to some program the way people in advanced countries gather around the television. For these people, imagination was the greatest gift bestowed upon them by a benevolent God...okay, maybe second greatest after the radio.
One of our favorite programs was broadcast theater. Every Tuesday night around nine o'clock, we would all be done with our chores and assembled in my grandfather's living room with our eyes fixated on the stereo perched on the fireplace mantle as the sounds emanated from it and gave us a high few addicts are able to top. For as long as the program ran, we sat there...hearts pounding, hands clasping armrests in anticipation, sweat dotting foreheads...captivated until it finished.
When we gather to reminisce about our childhoods, we never fail to finish without talking about "ikinamico," the Kinyarwanda name for theater, loosely translated into "cultural play." Sad to say, but I remember more of the occasions than what the plays themselves were about. What is mostly ingrained in my memory is the feeling...the ambiance...of  it all.
So, as I turned on the radio and listened to the program they had on, my memory took a few steps back in time and I was reminded of those times when we would gather around the radio and listen to stories not unlike the one I was now listening to. They both tackled issues of contemporary concern such as marriage, jobs, and, in the case of the one I was recently listening to, identity theft. It would be an understatement if I claimed to have enjoyed it.
Maybe we need more programs like that to counter the effects of television. Television rarely, if ever, excites one's imagination into compiling an entire set of scenes based on oral stimulation. Instead of us painting our sets, the director and the set designer set it up for us visually so that all we have to do is use our eyes and nothing else...okay, maybe hands and mouth to stuff ourselves with some unhealthy snacks. No name for a television set could be more appropriate than the oft-used "idiot box."
Listening to the radio program, I was transported with the subjects to the cafe where they worked, the used car lot where they hoped to find clues about the identity thief, and other locations that were often highlighted by simple sounds enough to evoke the image in my mind. More programs like these can benefit today's children who grow up accustomed to being shown everything they want to see in order for a scene to have complete meaning to them. For example, you see movies with elaborate special effects such as a car blowing up on the expressway, causing a pileup and the main character barely escaping - sometimes, barely scathed. They show you the minutest detail so you don't have to do any thinking, or wondering, on your own as to what else could have transpired.They give you no opportunity to work on your creativity, which might extend to other areas of life where creativity might aid you, such as career advancement.
I hope there are more theatrical programs on the radio and, if you know any, please bring them to my attention.