The sailor arrives on Indian shores with his fleet of four ships. His fellow travellers have never seen anything like this before. The locals of the village are curious, some of them running to inform the king of this mysterious arrival.
The ‘hero’ of this tale, as recounted in Naveen Haldorai’s Tamil language podcast, Varalaru, is Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. And the year is 1498.
The four-episode-old podcast, which traces da Gama’s journey, is unabashedly historical. “History is not boring,” emphasises 28-year-old Haldorai. It lends itself to fast-paced narration. “It is loaded with stories, myths, facts and shocking truths that are relevant to what’s happening today. But the way it was introduced to us in school was boring.”
The podcast is not just for children, or even history buffs. It is for anyone who is up for a good story.
Varalaru starts with the host explaining why India was such a hot commodity for foreign conquistadors of the 15th century, before going on, in subsequent episodes, to explain the legacy of da Gama, one of the most well-known foreigners to embark on Indian soil.
With each episode running for less than 12 minutes, Haldorai’s crisp voice booms, supported by audio effects. Thunderous rainstorms? Waves lapping up on the shore? Check. And all this was launched with just one microphone and two volumes of history books, in a small room in his home in Vadavalli, Coimbatore. The result sounds like it was recorded in a studio.
Radio revolution
The 28-year-old is not new to the world of voice-based technology. He has worked as an RJ and a voice-over artiste for TV shows (Bigg Boss 2, notably), dabbling in freelance assignments as well. “I’ve always been interested in the audio medium,” he says.
He was in college when the radio boom happened in India, with several stations launching. Suddenly, everyone was tuning into a radio channel and he wanted to see what it was all about. With his deep voice and well-rounded Tamil, he got an offer to work as an RJ, which he did for 18 months. “The stint taught me how powerful the medium was,” says Haldorai, who also runs his mother’s company that produces millet-based noodles.
Just a few months old, the podcast only has around 550 listeners per episode, but the format is refreshingly unusual, the quality reflecting his extensive research and storytelling skills. “I plan to do a podcast on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre next,” he says. This week, his channel, Curry Podcasts, also released the first episode of a series of spooky stories for children. “All of us like a good ghost story, don’t we?”
Podcast mania
“There are so many budding podcasters in our country who are doing a good job,” he says, about the advent of the medium in India. “With media companies entering the fray, it will develop in the future.” He mentions Dan Carlin, the iconic former radio personality whose podcast, Hardcore History, has at least a million downloads per episode, ranking highly on any history loving audiophile’s list. “He releases just one podcast on American history every three or four months but they are really good. He captures the essence of a good story through his narration, so much so that he’s called America’s best history teacher,” says Haldorai.
According to him, a good podcast — as opposed to the video content that our timelines are flooded with — is like listening to an intimate conversation. “Right now, most of us are glued to our mobile phones, with our heads bent,” he says. “There will soon come a time when we hold our heads high, earphones plugged, listening to a podcast.”
Curry Podcasts is available on iTunes and Google Podcasts, among others.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society / by Akila Kannadasan / November 02nd, 2018