K Unnikrishnan Menon, AIR Kochi, retired from service on 31st March 2020 and his farewell message is "Retirement. It came sooner than I expected. Know why I felt so? Because I lost track of time. It is my conviction that all these years I functioned.Fulfilling my obligations as a public service broadcaster. That, even when we had to continue under the cloud of expectations. Time has run out now.I submit I was happy in my functional domain. The only regret had been that I could not put to use all this experience, for. I never got empowered for that. I cruised through many areas Capital to Local Radio Stations, the Marketing Division, the Directorate, the apex training academy NABM experiences that came from domestic and international engagements. At each place coursed through various sub domains. Awards that came my way reinforced my faith in good programming. I have this satisfaction that I tried to instil the spirit of public service in my programming, be it planning or production. The objective was not lost at any point of time Many are occasions when I had argued to establish a point. I feel content that I contributed in my little way. I was in the thick of it at least on two occasions when disaster struck. The Kerala floods of 2018 and today am leaving when we are in the middle of another but after sharing my thoughts for the days ahead,
Yet, I am laying down my pen with doubts and questions which posterity may opt to ask. Is this public service radio evolving the way it should be? We have had an eventful history of over eighty years. Are we anymore carrying the time-tested values that helped us through the great struggle for independence, the open sky policy and the challenges of a digital India? An organisation is not just built up of brick and mortar, old dictum, but are we any more conscious of that?
I will be forgotten as the days go by. That is how it is. But the spirit of our work will be there for generations to discern and adapt to their contemporary settings. I am sure, because we did it. At a time when every conceivable media entity is claiming credit for their share of public service broadcasts, don't we need to maintain an identity that is so unique to us?
I wish my generation of officials and the could gel together as a cohesive unit without the system generating confluences of dissent between them, lest it will be story, not untold, but retold. May this media move purposefully in the right direction. Thanks, and goodbye.
upcoming young brigade all the very best. If only they".
Contributed by:- Shri. K Unnikrishnan Menon, Programme Executive, All India Radio, Kochi