JHUMRI Telaiya – sounds familiar to music lovers? Nestled in nature’s lap in Jharkhand this quaint hamlet, that derives its identity from an enchanting lake shot, to fame in early 1950s when Radio Ceylon and All India Radio’s Vividh Bharati used to be inundated with demands to play numbers, sung by the legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar. As news of the ‘Indian Nightingale’ who defined music for generations, breathing her last, reached this small town, loudspeakers installed at marquees to worship Goddess Saraswati started playing ‘Lata Didi’s’ numbers as did most of the roadside eateries, small shops and establishments. People huddled on streets talking about the legends death with moist eyes. Despite television replacing radio in most of India, roadside eateries, small shops and establishments still have a passion for radio sets in this town, about 165 km from the state capital Ranchi.

 

This was the town where countless, tuned-in to hear their favourite Lata songs, with many thumping their tables the moment announcers at Radio Ceylon or Vividh Bharti such as Ameen Sayani announced – “Agli farmaish hai Jhumri Teliaya se” (the next request is from Jhumri Telaiya). According to Rajiv Ranjan, who quit Indian Revenue Service and is now a barrister based in Ontario, Canada, the truth behind Jhumri Telaiya’s, fondness for music, is tied to its economic history and discovery of vast deposits of mica in the region, in 1890. When radios became popular, sending song requests on postcards became a major pastime in this village.

 

A mine owner from Jhumri Telaiya, Rameshwar Prasad Barnwal started mailing postcards with ‘farmaishein’ (song requests), to Radio Ceylon daily for Ameen Sayani’s ‘Binaca Geetmala’ program. “Because Barnwal was a regular mailer, his name started appearing regularly in the requests announced in the show. This motivated other residents of Jhumri Telaiya to send in their requests as well,” said Ranjan. the fad took over the entire town.