In Arunachal Pradesh, where poor network of roads severely restrict people's choice for outside entertainment, the newly-launched FM radio has come as a good alternative.
In fact, the FM radio launched here recently by a Guwahati-based company has become sort of a craze as people often stay up late enjoying the latest mode of interactive entertainment.
If FM radio has spiced up the otherwise humdrum lives of the Arunachalese, the arrival of mobile phone and cable TV together with bank ATMs and cyber cafes has revolutionised the life style, bringing in the modern times.
The radio jockeys are surprised when listeners from different hilltops around the stadium-shaped town participate in witty exchanges and request for playing songs they want to dedicate to their loved ones.
Till 2005, visitors to this city including this reporter, were flummoxed at the sight of cordless phones, connected to landline phones at homes, being carried by people in the streets.
It was possible in the city, surrounded on all four sides by high mountains, as there was no high structure to act as barriers to the communication signals.
To the credit of the Arunachalese, they have adjusted well to the symbols of modernity given their want for tradition and customs to rule their lives. Satellite-based computer system with video conferencing facility helped the authorities launch e-governance in all the 16 district headquarters recently.
The Arunachal Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, while inaugurating the FM radio service at a glittering function here recently, expressed his hope that the FM radio would not only air musical programmes but also play a constructive role in spreading the rich culture and tradition of the state.
The first song on demand aired was Khandu's choice 'Pyar Deewana Hota hai', sung by Kishore Kumar in the film Kati Patang. But the inaugural song was Bhupen Hazarika's 'Hamara Arunachal'.
With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announcing a Rs 20,000-crore package for development of the backward state including a modern road network, the distant Himalayan state is in for exciting times.
