Basudha Banerji

Producer of radio documentaries. Passionate about radio, passionate about storytelling. Author of 'ONCE THERE WAS A RANI'. Tea-addict. Northeast calling...

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

Today is the 90th anniversary of the name #AllIndiaRadio being adopted. Sadly, the name was scrapped in 2023. Yet the day was observed with much fanfare as 90 years of #Akashvani (a name adopted in 1957). Perplexing to say the least
@prasoonjoshi_ @GauravDwivedi95

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

Wonderful experience at @Guwahati airport @IndiGo6E check-in on 10th May. When i told these two i had limited mobility, they did their utmost to help me. Including helping with redistributing of excess weight and then taking the trouble of repeat X-ray. All this with a smile.

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

Happy to look back at this 2015 radio documentary tracing #Tagore's footsteps in Shillong. So grateful @anubhasen could be my partner in this dream project.
#RabindranathTagore
#RabindraJayanti https://t.co/lzJ3qR3TSi

[Preeti Choudhry @PreetiChoudhry]

My exit poll! As I leave #Bengal, it would be a disservice not to say this: I have come to deeply admire the way women inhabit space here. There is a quiet, almost subconscious elevation of women as independent beings . something that stands in stark contrast to the entrenched misogyny that still finds resonance across much of northern India. Perhaps it stems from a cultural understanding of shakti. A form of empowerment that manifests here in ways both subtle and profound, unlike anywhere else in the country, even in the south.
Any woman journalist who has covered political rallies across India will recognize the difference immediately. Other states, a crowd is not just a logistical challenge, it carries risk. the inevitability of wandering hands, the violation masked by chaos. Here, the crowds are no less dense, the air no less heavy with sweat and alcohol—but the hands, for the most part, do not grope. Men step aside to make way. When contact happens, as it inevitably does in chaos, there is visible embarrassment rather than entitlement. What you encounter is not chivalry, but something far rarer: equality. And equality feels far more meaningful. Was never a fan of chivalry in any case :) 
There is more. Women politicians across party lines campaign with a striking freedom, aggressive, sharp, unapologetically irreverent, often using what would elsewhere be labelled as ‘masculine’ rhetoric. In most states, such behaviour would invite judgment, even censure. Here, it is met with acceptance,  applause. What feels liberating to an outsider is, in Bengal, simply normal. What we frame as empowerment  here is a cultural undercurrent.
I have covered four elections in this state, and each time I have returned with the same sense of awe. Bengal, meanwhile, ambles on with a certain bemusement, as if unaware of what sets it apart. But it is a big deal. And perhaps the most remarkable part is that Bengal does not think so.
Governments will come and go. One can only hope that this constant endures, not just how Bengal sees its women, but how, in many ways, it doesn’t. ♥️♥️♥️

[Save 15a Noida park @save15apark]

PRESS RELEASE:Allahabad HC takes serious note of the proposed takeover of Vrindavan Park for a religious site

WRT our petition, the Division Bench has directed Noida Authority to file a detailed affidavit through a senior officer

Residents seek full disclosure and consultation

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

As always, a happy experience with @airindia! Good crafts, great flying, competent & caring ground and inflight crew. A big thank you for the free upgrade on up-journey! And for the priority boarding on return trip as i have restricted mobility.

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

"Radio has the best pictures," Sir Mark had said while I interviewed him at his Nizamuddin East residence in 2007. The finest radio journalist of our times, conjuring up the pictures and transmitting them to our homes for decades...A Long Playing Record....

#RIP #MarkTully

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

#IndiGoCrisis, #FlightCancellations, #IndiaAviation, #DGCA, #TravelChaos, #GuwahatiAirport, #PassengerRights, #FDTL  #BreakingNews, #TravelAlerts

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

Travel travails escalating! High time @DGCAIndia stepped in with concrete solutions.
@RamMNK, @MoCA_GoI

[Priyanshu Srivastava @priy2501]

@MisterPrasun @AkasaAir @AkasaAir My flight QP 1324 was cancelled just minutes before the departure time. We have been moved to another flight more than 24 hours later and not offered any accomodation as well. There are hundreds of people affected here. Very disappointed with the service.

[Shradha Sharma @SharmaShradha]

I have moved my base to New Delhi recently, a city very close to my heart.
But I have been feeling really underwhelmed.
During my college years at St Stephen's, winters were beautiful and we used to look forward to foggy days. But it's not the same anymore. I wake up every morning feeling my throat is scratchy. I feel sick every time I step out - and you can't just stay at home in the air purifier all day. 
Delhi air is a real problem and I feel we, as citizens, are not doing enough to turn things around.

Can we do something?

As a member of India's startup ecosystem, I feel we can do a lot more than just building our ventures. We have the sharpest minds solving some of the most complex problems - day in and day out.
Can we take a few hours out and spend time in brainstorming solutions for some of the most pressing challenges that we face as a society?

For now, if you are someone who lives in Delhi or has loved-ones who live here, air pollution has become an existential crisis.

This is what I am proposing:

1: Let's get together in Delhi and brainstorm some ideas on what it is that citizens can do to respond to this crisis. Just ideas and brainstorms, no cameras, no audience.

2: We compile ideas and solutions in a document and we present it to the relevant authorities. We also tell them specifically what we can do to help them.

3: And if the authorities want, we volunteer some time and resources that may be needed to fix this challenge.

If you want to join this brainstorm in Delhi, just fill this form and I will get back to you with details of the meetup.

sign up https://t.co/Zc3Z2lSpKU

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

Remember asking #piyushpandey about the role of advertising vis-a-vis societal changes for our @akashvaniAlR documentary on advertising. The year was 2009 and Pandey had only a couple of minutes to spare. His response is at the 17th minute. 🎙️
https://t.co/FMNOOkRM2i

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

@tapassen1 @Teetimetalesra1 @airindia @makemytrip @makemytripcare @MoCA_GoI @Ministry_CA Finally it was the airlines that got us on another flight. Not @makemytrip

[tapas sen @tapassen1]

@Teetimetalesra1 @airindia @makemytrip @makemytripcare @MoCA_GoI @Ministry_CA That's pathetic. If this is the kind of service MAKEMYTRIP is providing, we, as ardent travelers for last 20 years are removing them prrmanently from our list of service providers. Think will tell all in our Travel club to be wary of MMT service levels.

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

Thank you @airindia for a satisfactory solution. As we had booked the tickets through @makemytrip one would have expected them to be more proactive in resolving this issue.

[Teetimetales@rahulbanerji4 @Teetimetalesra1]

@airindia @MoCA_GoI @Ministry_CA Many thanks to @airindia and its social media team including Puspha for assisting in resolving issue of rescheduled flight efficiently.

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

Happy 91st to a Living Legend! May you live a long and healthy life.....and may you tell many more magical tales🌷
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Pix from his 89th birthday.
#ruskin #ruskinbond #ruskinbondlove #ruskinbondbooks

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

My piece in @frontline_india on #SanjidaKhatun - a cultural warrior whose song awakened a nation yet to see the light of freedom.
#Chhayanaut #Bangladesh @chhayanaut1961

[Frontline @frontline_india]

TRIBUTE | A luminary in the realm of Bengali culture & literature, musicologist, educator, institution builder, scholar extraordinaire, author, singer & cultural activist, #SanjidaKhatun delivered with distinction in her diverse roles.

@BasuAIR writes.

https://t.co/vaapRIT3mq

[Editors Guild of India @IndEditorsGuild]

🔔 Reminder: Submit Your Entry Now!

Editors Guild of India presents

Prem Bhatia Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism

Kindly send your submissions at [email protected]

Deadline: May 20, 2025

Award Prize: Rs 1,50,000

More details at: https://t.co/pgmkf1gf62

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

April 14 is a special day in Indian history. On this day in 1944 the #tricolour was unfurled for the first time on liberated Indian soil by the #INA. By beating back the British.
Sharing a promo of my documentary on #MoirangDay

#AzadHindFauj #NetajiSubhashChandraBose #Manipur

[Akashvani आकाशवाणी @AkashvaniAIR]

घर-आँगन, खेत-खलिहान,
गाँव-शहर, सुबह-शाम-दोपहर,
ख़ुशी हो या ग़म,
जीवन के हर रंग में,
हर पल रेडियो आपके संग
ज्ञान-विज्ञान और मनोरंजन का बेशुमार ख़ज़ाना है रेडियो📻

📻विश्व रेडियो दिवस की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ💐

📡जुड़े रहिये आकाशवाणी के संग📻

#WorldRadioDay2025

[Basudha Banerji @BasuAIR]

"This is All India Radio Shillong-Guwahati!"
The voice that launched @AkashvaniAIR in the North-east fell silent yesterday. #GyanadaKakati was the Announcer on Duty in the studios at Shillong on July 1, 1948 at that historical moment.
#radio #AllIndiaRadio #Akashvani #Guwahati