GM Shirahatti honored with the Rajyotsava award at the ripe age of 82 years!

The services of GM Shirahatti, a media veteran having served the state-owned Radio and Broadcast Media for decades have at last been recognized by the state government in the form of the coveted Rajyotsava Award, this year. A couple of decades back, it was a popular trend to snatch the same hook or crook by media persons with less than 20 years in the field. Over a period of time, the norms were changed to accommodate achievers above the age of 60 years. And now the octogenarian GM Shirahatti finds a place in the announced list of awardees. Like they say, better late than never, at last, GM Shirahatti is rewarded for his services spanning more than 61 years!

Career begins with AIR: GM Shirahatti, after a brief stint with Nagarika Kannada Daily as a Sub Editor for the paper published from Gadag also worked in a similar position for Karnataka Bandhu Kannada weekly. But his official career began with All India Radio in 1961 as an Announcer, Producer (SW). It was only the beginning and there has been no looking back since then.

From an Announcer to Director, Doordarshan Kendra, Bengaluru: The 20 years old lad GM Shirahatti who stepped into the Union Government-controlled and run official media in 1961 soon went on climbing steps upward. Over a period of time, he rose to become an Assistant Director of AIR in Dharwad, Bangalore, Gulbarga, Delhi (CEPU), Mangalore, Cannore, and Raichur. Later he was elevated to the position of Station Director, Commercial and Broadcasting Services, Bengaluru. He was appointed Station Director, of All India Radio Mysuru, and returned to Bengaluru as Director, of Doordarshan Kendra.

GM Shirahatt(left) interviewing
Da Ra Bendre at Gulbarga Akashwani 

A big list of accomplishments: Maybe the Rajyotsava award could be a Late Latif in the accomplished journey of GM Shirahatti. However, the number of awards that came in his distinguished career is aplenty. If you take into cognizance of the annual Akashvani awards, some of them deserve mention here are the following:

*Sooda Manjari (Musical Feature)

*Battada Zahari Bjulai (Innovative)

*Chimana (Drama)

*Bheemesh Krishna (Musical Feature)

*Gadiyara Iradiddaga (Documentary)

*Shravya Yan (Musical Feature)

His “Prasarvagada Ondu Nataka” on Family Welfare won the state award for the best Radio Play.

International recognition too: Not just state and national awards alone. In fact, GM Shirahatti is also a recipient of various international awards, and that was too many decades ago! He was presented with the Commonwealth Broadcasters Association Award for Innovative Management in Commercial Broadcast. His program “Ratriya Kogilegalu” (Nocturnal Nightingales) was selected for SAARC Audio Visual Exchange Programme. “O God be once a Woman” -a prayer play bagged the IWART Awards for Women’s Programme.

Special assignments: He also led the Indian Team for the SAARC quiz competition held in Dhaka in Bangladesh. He was also deputed for the production of Radio Date Programmes like Drug, Alcohol, and Awareness about ill effects of Tobacco for the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi.

Seminar/Workshops: He had been the Course coordinator of a workshop on Marketing of public service broadcasting at STPI in Thiruvananthapuram, Course coordinator on Innovative Management at STIP in Hyderabad. He was invited to the CBS SDs conference held in Chennai to speak on Innovative Programs in Commercial Broadcast. He was also a speaker at the Media convergence national seminar conducted by the Communication Department of Bengaluru University. In fact, he is a regular Resource person for workshops for Commercial Broadcast, conducted by STIP, Bhubaneswar, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Guest Faculty: As a Guest Faculty, he is associated with the Electronic Media course of Bengaluru University, WIGINLEH College of Communication, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, CMR Institute of Electronic Media, and Garden City College, all in Bengaluru. In Mysuru, he visits EMMRC, Mysuru University, and Karnataka State Open University among many a other elsewhere.

Subjects dealt: GM Shirahatti covered the following subjects- Guest Faculty-Radio Program Production, Electronic Media Management, TV, Radio Commercials, Mass Communication, Media Society, Electronic Media Ad.s’, and TV Program Production. A much more important aspect is that he has prepared about 40 CDs’ for teaching in Radio Program!

Honors and Felicitations: Karnataka Government was perhaps the least bothered to honor him so far. But it was no hindrance for honors and felicitations to him all along so far. He was felicitated with awards from the Karnataka Nataka Academy and Karnataka Media Academy. ‘Gali Gandha’, a commemoration volume on his life and accomplishments has been released followed by ‘Bangarada Gatti', another commemoration volume.

Revenue from Rs Three Crores to Five Crores: It was during the tenure of GM Shirahatti that the revenue of Commercial Broadcasting Services (CBS) shot up from Rupees three crores to five crores. The sudden surge in revenue generation was made possible by the introduction of innovative programs like Brand Image, Product-Centric, Consumer Awareness, Quality Culture, and two ways of Communication. The in-house production with the sponsorship of HMT on the national network happened for the first ever time.

DD Revenue generation goes up to Rs 12 Crores: Thanks to several innovative and new programs, the viewership of DD-1 evinced a meteoric rise of 71% while that of the Satellite Channel skyrocketed to 65%. Both these astonishing feats were unique records of their own. Not just that, Bengaluru Doordarshan Kendra earned an income of Rs 12 crores during the stint of GM Shirahatti as Director.

Member of several bodies: GM Shirahatti, apart from a series of achievements in his career with the AIR and DD, has also served a variety of organizations in different capacities. He had been a Member of the Karnataka Sangeet Nritya Academy, Government of Karnataka, Kannada Films Evaluation Committee, Government of Karnataka, President of Bharat Scouts and Guides Association, Yelahanka New Town, Member British Library, Bengaluru, Member of Indian Society of World Culture, Bengaluru, thrice Jury Member for annual awards competition AIR, Member Kannada films annual award committee, etc.

Publications: His publications include the following-Chetana Chiluma, a collection of essays, Makkala Natakagalu, a collection of plays for Children, Kargil Kare, a collection of obituary essays on Kargil War Heroes, The Last Migration (English), a collection of blank verse essays, God it is—Radio (English), a grammar guide on Radio Production. He was also a columnist on TV Programmes for Samyukta Karnataka Kannada daily.

Special Assignments: GM Shirahatti’s special assignments include-Editor, Kandaya Varte published by the Revenue Department, Government of Karnataka. Resource Person for Media Activities, Consultant to All India Bengaluru Bengaluru.

Last but not least: Above all these things are his greatest characteristic of leading a truly secular life all along. Probably, you may not have kept a count of the sermons you might have come across on being secular. How many of us remain so and more so in the present circumstances may turn out to be a controversial subject hard to digest. But GM Shirahatti, despite marrying a Brahmin never ever thought of converting her in her lifetime. On the contrary, he has named his children Hindu names! It is easy to profess and lecture on secularism and whatnot in public life but adhering to it religiously is nothing else but a challenging task. Strangely, he never makes a fuss about it. These days, we need crores of GM Shirahattis’, may his tribe increase.

-Manohar Yadavatti