Controversy in the AIR: Who coined the word "Akashvani"?

AIR, popularly known by Akashvani, is one of the earliest and most important forms of entertainment, media and communication for millions of people throughout India. But who coined the name of this iconic media institution - "Akashvani"?

The people who named "Akashvani". Image source - Wikimedia Foundation

Yeh hai Akashvani …

The world of media and communication is a fascinating one. Media revolves around entertainment, entertainment revolves around emotions, and emotion revolves around storytelling. The goal of media is to make an interesting impact on the society. People who shaped the media are just as interesting.

The story of the inception of AIR, the national public radio broadcaster, has been under debate for many decades - the debate over who first coined the term Akashavani.

To begin with, let’s know about AIR first.

All India Radio, also known as Akashvani, is the world's largest radio network. It broadcast content in 23 languages and 179 dialects all over India. In April 1930, the Indian Broadcasting Service started broadcasting operations. After 6 years, on June 8, 1936, the Indian State Broadcasting Service became All India Radio. Its headquarter is situated in New Delhi, India.

In terms of content, AIR offers a wide range of entertainment and communication to millions of Indians. Drama, FM, the National Service, and Doordarshan Kendra, just to name a few, are all housed in the Akashvani Bhavan building in New Delhi.

AIR, thus, is a very crucial institution; especially during the early days of pre-Independent India.

The controversy started around the origin of the word ‘Akashvani’. There were three people laying claim to the honour - Rabindranath Tagore, Hosbet Rama Rao and Professor M V Gopalaswamy. The question was - who coined the term, and who should be honoured with the ‘creator’ tag of Akashvani?

Well, firstly, most people assume that it was Tagore who coined Akashvani. Rabindranath Tagore, the famous Indian poet and writer, wrote a poem titled "Akashvani" at the launch of the Calcutta Radio shortwave transmission service in 1938. While his contribution may not have been the coining of the term, it certainly helped to popularize it and cement its place in Indian culture.

But interestingly, in September of 1935 (which was three years before the launch of Calcutta Radio) a private radio station “Akashvani Mysore” was set up. It was started by Professor M V Gopalaswamy, who taught psychology at Mysore University. His small radio station began broadcasting from his home in Mysore, and it wasn't until 1956 that the term Akashvani gained widespread acceptance and was officially adopted by All India Radio Mysore.

So in that sense, Professor M V Gopalaswamy should be credited with the honour of the name, right?

Well, for a fact, it is indeed true that AIR Mysore officially recognise Gopalaswamy for coming up with the term “Akashvani”. However, the controversy doesn’t end here.

There is a third contender - Hosbet Rama Rao.

Anuradhagiri Rao, Rama Rao’s daughter, claims that her father was the founder of the word; and he coined it in 1932 - supposedly three years before Gopalswamy. She has been campaigning for due recognition for her father. Rama Rao, who lived for 85 years, served as a teacher at the Government College, Mangalore. It is claimed that Rao anonymously published a 15-20 page booklet called "Akashvani", which contained information regarding the phenomenon of the radio set.

This booklet was well received by the people who were interested in it. It was later acknowledged and reportedly adopted as a non-detailed Kannada textbook for high school students by the textbook committee of the Madras Presidency.

So who really coined the term? Was it Tagore in 1938 - which most people presumably believe, was it Gopalswamy in 1935 - who is officially recognised by AIR Mysore, or was it Rao in 1932 - for his booklet on Akashvani?

While the debate over who coined the term Akashvani continues, it's clear that all three individuals played a role in shaping the history of AIR. According to Prasarbharati, India's state-owned public broadcaster, AIR serves nearly 99.19% of the Indian population with 420 stations spread across the country - making it one of the world's largest broadcasting organizations in terms of the number of languages broadcast.

So whether it was Rama Rao's anonymous booklet, Gopalaswamy's small radio station, or Tagore's poem, Akashvani has become an integral part of Indian culture and will continue to be so for generations to come.