S. P. Mylvaganam () was a Sri Lankan radio broadcaster. He was the first

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

announcer for the Commercial Service of

Radio Ceylon Radio Ceylon ( ''Lanka Guwan Viduli Sevaya'', , ''ilankai vanoli'') is a radio station based in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and the first radio station in Asia. Broadcasting was started on an experimental basis by the colonial Telegraph Departme ...

. He had fans across Sri Lanka and India.

Vannakam

Listeners liked his relaxed style and they recognised his voice instantly when he uttered one word ' Vannakam ' - in Tamil, it means ' Welcome.' His wife, Chenthimani Mylvaganam, was the first lady news reader at Radio Ceylon. It was through his wife that Mr Mylvaganam was introduced to announcing. He presented a range of Tamil programmes on the Commercial Service. He was trained by the Australian administrator Clifford Dodd who came to work for Radio Ceylon under the

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri ...

and by Livy Wijemanne.

Iconic status

Mylvaganam belonged to that select band of announcers of Radio Ceylon who enjoyed iconic status in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, now the

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) (, ''Shrī Lankā Guvan Viduli Sansthāva'', , ''Ilangkai Oliparappuk Kūṭṭuttāpaṉam'') came into existence on 5 January 1967 when Radio Ceylon became a public corporation. Dudley Senanayak ...

, is the oldest radio station in the region. He helped popularise Radio Ceylon in India - millions tuned into the station. In a time when announcers arose above narrow racial barriers, Mylvaganam had close friendships with Sinhala announcers who worked on the English and Sinhala services. He worked very closely with

Vernon Corea Vernon Corea (11 September 1927 – 23 September 2002) was a pioneer radio broadcaster with 45 years of public service broadcasting both in Sri Lanka and the UK. He joined Radio Ceylon, South Asia's oldest radio station, in 1956 and later the S ...

on radio programmes and they shared ideas together. Mylvaganam was popular right across South Asia.

Involvement with Tamil Stars from India

Mylvaganam was very involved with Tamil stars of the time such as Shivaji Ganeshan, MGR and other popular stars, such was his pulling power on the Indian subcontinent. He and his wife were the catalysts who brought MGR and Saroja Devi to Sri Lanka on his first visit in October 1965, to judge a beauty pageant in Kandy, sponsored by the Independent Newspapers Ltd. It still remains very vividly in many people's memory the day MGR and Saroja Devi visited Mylvaganan's residence in Colombo. The railway tracks, the streets and the beach were spilling with crowds shouting and screaming to see MGR and Saroja Devi.

Naan Kanda Sorgam (நான் கண்ட சொர்க்கம்)

In an Indian film titled Naan Kanda Sorgam (நான் கண்ட சொர்க்கம்), the comedian Thangavelu goes to heaven and when he meets God Indira he tries to show him the western song and he tunes the Radio the first thing he hears is the voice of Mylvaganam and says "Oh! He has come here too". This shows how much pride he has achieved during that time. He was the first Tamil Disc Jockey in the sense of Western radio.

References

Bibliography

* Wavell, Stuart. - ''The Art of Radio'' - Training Manual written by the Director Training of the CBC. -

Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) (, ''Shrī Lankā Guvan Viduli Sansthāva'', , ''Ilangkai Oliparappuk Kūṭṭuttāpaṉam'') came into existence on 5 January 1967 when Radio Ceylon became a public corporation. Dudley Senanayak ...

, 1969.

External links

Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation

* ttp://www.tamilweek.com/Jimmy_Bharucha_kss_1118.html Reflections from one of S. P. Mylvaganam's contemporaries
SLBC-creating new waves of history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mylvaganam, S. P. Sri Lankan radio personalities Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan journalists Year of birth missing Year of death missing Sri Lankan Hindus