Mail Roundup – May 12, 2023
A roundup of messages we've received in the last two weeks
Vlad Palcu, 13.05.2023, 06:51
Hello everyone!
Two weeks have passed again, and the
time has come to review some of your contributions and feedback.
As always, we got an impressive number of messages and comments. We’ve also
been trying to answer the letters we got in physical format at our office. Of
these, a word of gratitude goes to Yoshihiro Toyama
(Japan), who wrote to us on snail mail sending words of appreciation for our
broadcast in addition to his reports. Also from Japan, on April 5 we got a nice
letter from Hidemitsu Miyake, who enclosed a very nice photo with cherry
blossoms, a cycling map and a flyer. Thanks for that as well! Here is an
excerpt from her letter: April brings
its refreshing breezes and fresh green leaves. For the past few days,
temperatures have regularly been over 10 degrees Celsius. The stronger sunshine
is an indication that spring has arrived in Hiroshima. Spring is a season of
mild weather. This comfortable weather is refreshing and the cherry blossoms
are in full bloom now. It is also a time for new employees to start their
careers. Thanks for sharing the local mood with us, Hidemitsu, I’m sure
other listeners can relate to that. We also got a nice letter dated April 10
from Nicholas Flessas of the United States, who is actually a first-time
listener. Welcome to the RRI family, Nicholas, it’s good to have you. Our
regards to Father Ciprian, who is local priest at the Greek-Orthodox Church in
his hometown of Pewaukee, Wisconsin.
***
April 23 marked World Book Day, a celebration of literature everywhere
introduced by the United Nations in 1995 with the purpose of raising public
awareness about reading books, printing books, saving copyright of books etc.
On this special occassion, our listener Bidhan Chandra Sanyal (India) again
shared with us the following information:
The
original idea of World Book Day comes from Spanish writer Vicente Clavel
Andres. Miguel de Tervantes, a famous writer of Spain, died on April 23, 1616.
Andres was his disciple. Andres started celebrating World Book Day in Spain
from April 23, 1923 to commemorate his favorite author. Then there was a demand
to celebrate the day every year. Of course, that claim did not come to the
attention of anyone. One has to wait for a long time for the day to be
recognized in reality.
Finally, in 1995, the United Nations
recognized the day as World Book Day and started celebrating it. Since then,
every year in different countries of the world, April 23 is being celebrated as
World Book Day.
Note that April 23 is not only World
Book Day, but also the birth and death day of famous writers like Shakespeare,
Satyajit Ray, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. And for this reason, many people think
that April 23 has been chosen as World Book Day.
Just as it is necessary to eat
healthy and nutritious food to keep the body healthy, in the same way it is
necessary to give food to keep the brain healthy, functional and active.
According to recent research, the habit of reading books is brain food!
You can say, to keep the brain
healthy and active, it is only necessary to eat fish oil or turmeric regularly,
or to try a new language class, pulse book or math solution. Which will
simultaneously increase the memory and cognitive function of the brain.
But know that the habit of reading
books is the most useful and effective for the brain than all the above activities.
Reading books is good for the brain, there is no big secret behind it.
The director of the UCLA Center for
Dyslexia in the United States said, A student thinks much more while
reading a book than learning a language or writing something. Which allows
him to think broadly in the imaginary world, opening many new doors of thought.
By doing this, the brain benefits much more than learning a language.
Emory University reports even
better. According to a study conducted by this university, the function of the
brain continues even five days after reading the last book.
You will be very surprised to know
one more thing. As the story in the book describes the action, the brain
perceives the action and acts accordingly. Suppose you are reading a horse riding
story in a book. The brain will act as it feels.
Neurons start firing in the same way
when reading about a physical task. Motor neuron function is responsible in
this case. It can be said that reading books is a great exercise for the brain.
The world of books can give a hint
of a peaceful life. Childhood-adolescent reading habits or interest in exotic
knowledge can pave the way for future ‘real survival’. Exposure to a large
number of books can provide an opportunity to experience the greatness of human
life. We have to remember that stories like ‘Sonarkathi-Ruporkathi’,
‘Rakshasa-Khokshas’, ‘Turtle-Rabbit’ or ‘Tiger-Fox’ can give birth to each
enlightened child with a sense of self-respect and conscience. A dream world of
possibility can call him Kaguchuch, Feluda, Byomkesh, Harry Potter, Ghanada and
Crazy Dashura.
April 23 is World Book Day. On this
day, I accept the debt to Ishwari Patni and say that my child should have a
book in hand. Walking with a book means carrying a hundred gems in one hand.
***
It was a pleasure to receive a very nice message from our listener and
friend from Algeria, Dahmani Rachid. Here is what he wrote:
My
friends and loved ones at Radio Romania’s English section,
Greetings of love and appreciation
to all of you.
It was with great relief that I was
finally able, after several months, to listen to your programs, because the
signal strength has improved a lot. Thank you for an interesting selection of
programs and topics. I hope your technical staff will find this report, and the
ones I sent, helpful and I look forward to receiving verification. Fingers
crossed for good receptions in progress.
I just wanted to take a moment to
thank you for the wonderful content you share on Radio Romania. Your programs
have been so informative, inspiring and really brighten my day. I am grateful
for the time and effort you put into providing such great content.
Again, thank you so much for all you
do. You have made a difference in my life, and I look forward to continuing to
follow and interact with you.
Thanks for this message, your kind words are greatly appreciated.
***
Another nice message came in from John Jurasek (USA).
Although
I do not often write in, I am a regular listener to Radio Romania
International’s English Service to North America – I find your transmissions to
be highly informative and I always find myself learning something new about
Romania every time I listen. The Romanian musical selections are most enjoyable
likewise, and the news about Romania provides me with important perspective
that I would otherwise be deprived of.
Thank you for continuing to offer
your excellent programming via shortwave, I know that myself and many other
listeners appreciate it greatly!
***
Mark Hattam (England) – Great to hear an old favorite station still broadcasting. Thanks
for sending a new message after a long break, Mark. Good to have you back!
***
One
of our listeners from Mexico, Oscar
Arturo Ross Gurrola, got in touch after a long time to say: To this
day I keep listening to your station, many times with my son Arturo, who is now
8 years old and can easily identify your interval signal now. Once again, thanks for your great work: I enjoy all your
programs but probably my favorites are the ones about folk music and about interesting
and beautiful places to visit in Romania, as well as the listeners
mailbox. My warmest greetings and thanks to all the staff. Keep up the
great work and keep shortwave a worthy band to tune!
Thanks for the
message, Oscar. It’s also great to hear you are passing down your hobby for SW
listening to the new generation.
***
This week we also got a new message from Siddhartha Bhattacharjee of India.
Apart from his regular report, our listener addressed us a number of questions
regarding World Press Freedom Day, celebrated worldwide on May 3 and events
marking this event in Romania. Romania celebrates World Press Freedom day every
year, with multiple events dedicated to this important day in the
calendar. This year, World Press Freedom Day occasioned the opening of a
special exhibition at the National Romanian Literature Museum in Bucharest. The
event was organized jointly with the Romanian Union of Professional
Journalists. The exhibition, which opens a series of events devoted to
journalists in all fields, is intended as a starting point for a future Museum
of Romanian Press. The World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General
Assembly in 1993, and is designed to highlight the importance of and the need
for freedom of expression.
Our listener also asks if there is government control over media content
today. Right now, there is currently no government control over public broadcasters
such as TVR or SRR – the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, which RRI is
a part of. Unfortunately, the situation was not the same under communism. Prior
to 1989, government censorship expanded over all sectors of the press and
information was controlled and often doubled by propaganda.
***
West Bengal recently hosted the Radio Festival – Radio
Listeners’ Meet. One the sidelines of the event, the Meet also included an
exhibition of stickers, pennants, calendars and other souvenirs of a number of
radio stations, including RRI. More details about this event from one of our
listeners in the region, Shivendu Paul. Here is an excerpt from his message
below:
Murshidabad
Betar Shrota Poribar (Murshidabad Radio Listeners’ Family), an organization of
Radio Listeners of West Bengal, India organized an annual Listeners’ Meet,
which called Milon Mela , held at Berhampore Collectorate Club in Berhampore
town of Murshidabad district, West Bengal, on 5th March, 2023.
150 Radio listeners attended the 4th
Radio Festival including Conference, DX Radio Exhibition and published Radio
Magazine Betar Bhuban. The event brought together radio listeners, poets,
writers, and radio and TV journalists and announcers, Radio Club organizers
from different districts of West Bengal.
The Murshidabad Radio Listeners’
Family celebrates World Radio Day on February 13. It encourages people to listen
to radio, and informs them about the importance of radio in the modern age. Its
slogan is Listen to the Radio, Love the Radio.
On the occasion of the Listeners’
Meet published 2nd issues of a radio magazine called Betar Bhuban, which
publishes more than a hundred and fifty radio articles, poems and greetings.
The Meet included an exhibition of
Different Radio sets, stickers, pennants, calendars, and other souvenirs of All
India Radio Akashvani, Radio Romania International, China Radio International,
Radio France International, Voice of America, Voice of Vietnam, Voice of
Mongolia, BBC, Radio Veritas Asia, Radio Tehran, Radio Japan, Radio Sri Lanka
(Ahoban), Radio Taiwan International, Radio Prague, Trans World Radio India,
KBS World Radio, Voice of Indonesia, Voice of Turkey etc. Meet participants
were given bags, pens, calendars, mementos and Tiffin & a light lunch.
Thanks for these bits of info, Shivendu, I think our
other listeners will take an interest in your event. You can get an idea of how
the event unfolded from the photos below
***
It’s now time to
thank all the other listeners who took the time to send us messages over the
last two weeks. We appreciate the effort and are grateful to each and every one
of you. Many thanks to Pradip Chandra Kundu
(India), Allen Willie (Canada), Nasir Aziz (India), Anand Mohan Bain (India),
Karyono Wasmin (Indonesia), Sanil Deep (India), Lu Dacheng (China), Richard
Lemke (Canada), Abdul Mannan (Bangladesh), Siddhartha Bhattacharjee (India),
Chris Malboeuf (Canada), Dean Bonanno (USA), Igor Belevich (Belarus), Andrew
Kuznetsov (Latvia), Christer Brunström (Sweden), Norman Deveau (Canada), Mikael
Sjoberg (Sweden), Atsuhiko Takezawa (Japan), Adrian Micaleff (Malta), Koray
Kahvecioğlu (Turkey), Tooru Gouhara (Japan), Mark Pentler (Scotland), Edgar
Neuhäuser (Germany), Gordon McGowan (UK), Johann Höchtl (Austria), Michael
Andersson (Sweden), Masaki Ikeda (Japan), Erlend S. Ervik (Norway), Greg
Majewski (USA), Ding Lu (China), Paul Froehlich (USA), Wilson Sour (Australia),
Hideki Fujita (Japan), Debottam Goswami (India), Kraig Krist (USA), Artsiom
Kamovich (Belgium), Johann Höchtl (Austria), Kazuhiko Iwasa (Japan), Toshiki
Tsuboi (Japan), Martin Steiner (Australia), Jakub Denisiuk (Poland), Martin
Bobek (the Czech Republic), Anna Ravneng (Norway), Motokazu Katoh
(Japan), Ratan Kumar Paul (Pakistan), Alan Gale (UK), Malik Allah Bachaya
(Pakistan), Shobuz Mahmud (Bangladesh), Hans Verner Lollike (Denmark), Misayo
Tanaka (Japan), Najim Uddin (India), Tatsuya Yamagata (Japan).
By now many of you are probably wondering why you
haven’t received any QSLs for 2023. The reason is we haven’t received them
ourselves. Unfortunately, the English Service cannot control or influence these
delays, and we apologize to everyone for the inconvenience. However, out
Letters Department has logged every each of you sent this year and we assure
you every report you have submitted will be rewarded with a QSL.
Wishing everyone a great week ahead, 73!
