Renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has created a sand sculpture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with 100 radios to celebrate 100 episodes of “Mann ki Baat”, at Odisha’s Puri beach.
Pattnaik has created the 8-ft high sand art to mark the feat by using about seven tonnes of sand.
He also created a sand sculpture of the Prime Minister with 100 sand radios. Students from his sand art school joined him to complete the sculpture.
“Earlier, I created a few sand sculptures on ‘Mann ki Baat’ on different occasions. Besides, sand sculpture on radio was also created on occasions like World Radio Day,” Pattnaik said.
Modi’s flagship radio address, which aired for the first time on October 3, 2014, will complete 100 episodes on April 30.
So far, the Padma-winning artist has participated in more than 60 international sand art competitions and festivals around the world and won many prizes for our country.
He always tries to create awareness on different social issues through his sand art. His sand arts are appreciated by the UN, WHO and UN Environment.
The “Mann ki Baat” broadcast has increased the number of people listening to radio and renewed their interest in the medium, Prasar Bharati CEO Gaurav Dwivedi has said.
The “Mann ki Baat” programme is broadcast on last Sunday of every month at 11 am on the entire All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD) network.
A report curated by Institute for Competitiveness was also released on the occasion which claimed the programme helped galvanize people’s resolve and action to bring about societal change and transformation.
According to another study, the radio programme has reached more 100 crore listeners at least once.
“Mann ki Baat” has been translated into 22 Indian languages, 29 dialects, and 11 foreign languages by All India Radio.
In addition to English, the programme is broadcast in 11 foreign languages — French, Chinese, Indonesian, Tibetan, Burmese, Baluchi, Arabic, Pashtu, Persian, Dari, and Swahili.
The programme is currently being aired by more than 500 broadcast centres of All India Radio. (Agencies)
