A tribal woman with her radio at her house at Mepathamkudy, Edamalakkudy, in Idukki district. Photo: Giji K. Raman

             Radio has for long been the link to the outside world for the 26-odd tribal settlements in Edamalakkudy here. In a region where even newspaper is a rarity, radio provides information, entertainment. Even after a panchayat was created exclusively for the Muthuvan tribe in 2010, raising hopes of development, the bond with the radio stayed strong. In every house, its sound greets one first.

When a couple gets married and moves to a new house, the first thing that is usually bought is a radio — a sign of life in the otherwise silent forest environs.

Even now, mobile phone connection is available only in a limited area around the panchayat office where a solar-powered mobile station works.

A few families also have television sets operated via solar panels. Still, they rely on radio for their daily dose of entertainment.

It is the official timekeeper too. “The radio is on from dawn to dusk without a break,” says Lakshman Kani of Mepathamkudy.

“It is hard to think of a life without radio,” he says.

Though the tribespeople do not prefer to discuss political or other developments outside their world, they are in touch with the happenings, thanks to the radio, says Doraisami of Ambalaparakudy.

Telecommunication may arrive in due course, but it will take its time to make an impact on the panchayat which has the lowest literacy rate in Kerala. Till then, radio is set to rule

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