I haven't listened to the radio in a long time, although I still have a few old radios in my house for nostalgic display. But recently when I was in the capital, the taxi driver suddenly turned on the radio, perhaps he just did it to entertain the passengers.
The old radio in my house for many years - Photo: HCD
At that time, the radio station was broadcasting a cultural program, songs of Hanoi's autumn accompanied by emotional narration. The voice of the announcer was warm, the pronunciation was slow when talking about the yellow leaves falling on the sidewalk. Looking through the car window, the scenery outside was exactly the same, as if there was a harmony of scenery and sound. I asked the driver to drive very slowly, passing through the streets lined with ancient green trees until the radio program ended, then the car stopped, then chose a sidewalk cafe to sit and watch the autumn.
The gentle sound of that journey evoked a special feeling in me. It was as if it helped me slow down, pause to fully appreciate the flavor of life. It also evoked so many fond memories of the old years, when the radio was like my close friend.
During my high school years, my house was ten kilometers from school. In the morning, I had to wake up early and cycle from the village to town, which took an hour, and then cycle back at noon. The long journey was without any friends, just me and my bike. Then I bought a small radio, the kind that fits in my pocket and has a large battery but can listen for a long time. The radio had a radio receiver, you had to turn the wheel until you got the right frequency to listen. Sometimes while listening, there was a crackling sound due to signal interference.
I put the radio in front of my bike basket and listened to it while I pedaled. At that time, there weren't as many large trucks on the road as there are now, just motorbikes, bicycles, and occasionally a truck carrying materials, so traveling was very safe. While I pedaled, I listened to the radio programs, everything from the news to... advertisements. Thanks to that, my legs were less tired and I even enjoyed cycling to school like that.
In the evening, after finishing my homework, I turned on the radio to listen to the cultural program, or read a late-night story. I still remember the warm and inspiring voice of the announcer when she read short stories or long novels. Thanks to listening to the radio, I learned more about social knowledge, literary stories, and by the time of the graduation exam that year, I, who had only studied science subjects, could freely write many pages of literature. I am grateful for the days of riding my bicycle to school with that radio. Without it, my knowledge would have been much poorer.
On rainy nights, the radio made the old house less sad, the news was broadcast interspersed with stories here and there. That was the time when there was no internet and no smartphones like today, so the radio, as an advertisement said, “brings the world to your home”.
The most practical thing was during storms and floods, people had to cut off the electricity to prevent danger. Information at that time was thanks to the battery-powered radio, listening to the radio continuously reporting storm news. Then during the days living with flood water, everyone was restless at home and thanks to the small radio, the house had more human voices, more entertaining stories.
The radio only has one channel, listens to one station, no other options. It cannot change channels like watching TV, or later with the internet, access websites at will, and today, smartphones can freely surf the news. Sometimes, chasing hot news, mass events, we gradually become infected with a hasty lifestyle, even lacking focus on work. It seems that listening to the radio today seems outdated, but it is a way to practice patience.
Today, I took out the old radio from my pile of souvenirs, cleaned it, and put in batteries. Luckily, it still worked. I started listening to the radio again, like a person who has lived too fast and now needs to calm down. The flood season in the Central region is also coming, that small old radio will surely be very useful in the upcoming power outages.
I suddenly remembered the taxi driver the other day in the capital saying that drivers nowadays listen to the radio to concentrate on driving safely and to get more information, instead of having free hands to scroll through their phones. It turns out that nostalgia sometimes has many good things.
Hoang Cong Danh
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