Fifty years for Handa Mama

This week's column is devoted to look at the history and success of Handa Mama (Uncle Moon) an extremely popular children's programme first broadcast on December 14, 1963 over the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) or Radio Ceylon as it was known then. The Programme will celebrate its fifty years on air in 2012.

Handa Mama was a product of the SLBC's Commercial Service or Velanda Sevaya. By then the Lamapitiya (Children's playground), a popular children's programme conducted initially by Karunaratne Abeysekara had been going on with the participation of the children from diverse parts of the country.

Although the Commercial Service of the SLBC was popular, there wasn't a programme for children. The then Director of the Commercial Services Livy R Wijemanne who had realised the need for a programme for children invited Sumana Jayatilake a contributor to the SLBC then to come out with a script for a new children's programme. Since she was not a staff member then, the task for the production of the programme was entrusted with K. A. W. Perera. Although a couple of names for the programme were proposed, it was Livy Wijemanne who proposed the name of Handa Mama. The production team agreed in unison and endorsed the title.

The name Handa Mama (Uncle Moon) is an apt title for the programme on many accounts; among the children the moon is often referred to an uncle and is served as a symbol of purity and innocence. Sinhalese Children are generally taught by their grandparents and relations that the Handa Mama (Uncle Moon) would bring them curd and honey. Another popular metaphor with which the moon often referred to is a golden plate in the sky. The aptness of the title was proved with the passage of time as the programme became a part and parcel of childhood experiences of generations of children who grew up to become adults with a fine sense of appreciation of art, culture and literature.

Innovative structure

Looking back on the trail of success, the innovative structure of Handa Mama that its producer Sumana Jayatilake stood the test of the time, being sensitive to the socio-economic changes that took place over ensuing decades. Sumana Jayatilake who was then an experienced radio personality, thought that she should come out with an innovative structure for the programme, deviating from the beaten-track programmes of the day.

As the long-established tradition of bed-time story telling was under threat due to emerging commercial trends of that time, it was felt that children should be introduced to folk tales, history, literature and stories of heroes and heroines in a manner that the stories would convey a moral message. However, an issue was raised as to how the producer would receive feedback from young listeners and whether they had really profited from the programme. An important outcome of the innovative process of conceptualisation was that, for the first time, in Sri Lankan electronic media, children were encouraged to draw a picture based on a story told in the programme. Handa Mama was designed as a magazine programme and consisted three segments; namely Chitra Pituva (Drawing Page), Prashna Pituva (Question Page) and Vakya Pituva (Language Page). Each segment was designed to develop diverse skills of the child. For instance, in Chitra Pituva, a presenter would tell a story and would ask the children to draw a picture based on the story.

In addition to developing children's drawing skills, the exercise would develop children's creativity and power of imagination. In Prashna Pituva, children were given a questionnaire designed to improve their general knowledge on different subjects. In Vakya Pituva (Language Page), children were offered either a sentence to be completed or a poem to be completed and if not they were given a topic to write an essay.

A salient feature of the programme was the children's active participation in the programme. Parents were requested to train the children to sing a song or a poem and bring them into the studio. The presenters managed to address children's stage anxiety by chatting with them in a friendly manner encouraging them to present their item or items without fear. In order to add value to the programme, Ariyasena Millewithanachchi joined the programme as a presenter. Sumana Jayatilake who wrote the script and presented the programme from its inception compiled the theme poem for the programme. The theme poem was sung by Milton Perera and played before the commencement of the programme. P. L.A Somapala composed music for the poem

" Lova ganaduru durukaranna...".

The presenters of the programme expect to conduct a series of activities and a seminar for children in the run up to the fifty year celebration. A generation of presenters including Ariyasena Millawithanachchi, Gunatunga K Liyanage, K. S Wickremaratne, Lambet Pemawadu, Mangala Premadasa and Jude Ivon (current male presenter) together with Sumana Jayatilake will join in to discuss the success of the programme.

Innovative application of radio

Handa Mama also offers an objective lesson on how electronic media in general and radio in particular could be used to develop creativity amongst children and help their personality development. It is obvious that the stories with moral message would make lasting impact on the children and those children irrespective of professions they would take up in the future as citizens will grow as adults with creative minds and sound personalities. The children who took part in the programme and who are now successful adults perhaps living in Sri Lankan and also abroad would amply prove this point.

An important fact that Handa Mama Program had proved is that how effectively the medium of radio could be used in the process of national integration and identity.

The question is whether we have a high calibre radio artists and producers in our tele-drama era of communication to produce excellent children's programs in the tradition of Handa Mama which is celebrating 50 years of a success story.