Not many guys are fortunate enough to be blessed with a mother who is a prolific writer and whose views are widely admired. My super mom, Asma Hassan, is indeed a published author and she was recently invited for a podcast session by Radio Pakistan Lahore.
Being a responsible and caring mother of the highest order, she does not let me miss any opportunity of accompanying her to visit places and events which could enlighten me.
She took me and my elder sister, Zoya, who is fond of photography besides being an avid student of accounting, with her when going to the historic building of Radio Pakistan Lahore where she was to share her views during the podcast.
As we were the invited guests, there was hardly any hassle at the main gate allowing us to drive straight to the parking lot. We had noticed the structure of this building from outside quite a few times but it was for the first time when we stepped inside it.
It became evident from the outset that we were going to learn a lot of new things while moving on. The warm reception upon arrival gladdened our hearts and we were taken to the room of the Station Director, Dr Ahmer Sohail Basra, who was kind enough to greet us affectionately and offer a cup of tea.
We had a brief discussion about the history of Radio Pakistan before proceeding to the studio where the podcast session was going to take place.
My super mom proved her mettle during the interview with powerful replies to the queries from the host, Karim Ahmed, who also looked a learned person as he seemed to have done a lot of research about Asma Hassan and her famous book, Mayar-e-Zindagi.
Quite remarkably, there was not a single fumble during the entire conversation of over half an hour which was done without any retake.
Once the podcast session was over, all of us were escorted to the various departments and units of Radio Pakistan Lahore.
We were informed that this particular station had made the announcement about the creation of Pakistan when it came to being on August 14, 1947.
A gentleman, named Mustafa Hamdani, had declared to the world at 12 midnight that Pakistan was finally born. It was the very first broadcast from Radio Pakistan.
Radio Pakistan never sleeps. It is a 24/7 station. It means that they have people working and broadcasting every single hour of the day and night. Many of the country’s famous actors and singers started their careers from the platform of Radio Pakistan.
Radio Pakistan uses two types of signals.
They have AM (medium wave), which can travel very far. They also use FM (like FM 101), which makes sounds much clearer, and it's great for listening to music in the city.
Radio Pakistan Lahore is beautiful place where we saw the Noor Jahan Auditorium.
We were communicated that the legendary Noor Jahan sang songs at this particular place during wars of 1965 and 1971 to boost the morale of our armed forces in particular and the masses in general.
There were so many pictures hanging on the walls of the people who had started their career from Radio and became famous, or they shared their esteemed work on the platform of Radio Pakistan.
We were also taken to the room of FM 101 from where all the transmissions took place. We were briefed about how they work as a team to produce the programmes, and how it goes on air.
It was amazing to watch all the systems in one place, and they were managing so professionally and technically, and taking care of very small things. Definitely, it’s not a simple or easy task.
Then, we moved to the music library, where they have kept the records of musical programmes. We can find the music with their codes, even recorded many decades ago. They have prepared the manual register of all records, with zero mistakes, which means there is no room for mistakes, they are flawless.
Such a historical and informative place is such an honour, and I do wish to go back again someday, because it’s not only enhanced my knowledge, but it also gave me an idea of how the Radio system works.
This is one place where one should go there to see that place because it's amazing to see heroes and high achievers' pictures on the walls of the Radio station, which gives a different vibe. It was a proud moment for me and my family, because my mother was invited there for an interview and we visited the Radio Station in protocol just because of her. It was an amazing visit.
