KOCHI : There was a time when people who owned light and sound systems made big money in the election season. As an old timer says, those were the days when campaigning resembled processions taken out during church or temple festivals.
Over the years, the electioneering dynamics have changed with the advent of technology, and so has the revenue graph of these light and sound operators.
“Though the systems were not as good as today, the energy was on another level. Those were the good old days,” says 92-year-old Haji M Kochu, who began the light and sound business way back in 1958.
Loudspeakers had to be loaded on hand-pulled rickshaws, goods autorickshaws or even bicycles along with other paraphernalia with the announcer, he says.
“Now, loudspeakers of yore have disappeared, and huge speakers have taken over. It was a circus back then,” says Kochu, who began his light and sound store after retiring as the headmaster of a school in North Paravoor.
Junaid Sulaiman, a resident of Mattanchery, says, “I remember my father telling me about people carrying petromax on their heads used to accompany announcers holding megaphones as they went around canvassing votes.”
“These walking announcers were the only way to reach the voters in interior areas.”
In recent times, especially after Covid, many people have closed their shops. According to Prajith K P of Thriprayar in Thrissur, the business is no longer lucrative.
“Due to the restrictions enforced by the Election Commission to tackle sound pollution, political parties rent the systems for a brief period, mostly towards the end of campaigning,” he says.
Even that does not generate much profit, with the cost of diesel, jeep rent and the announcer’s fee taking away a major part of the income, he adds.
“Also, the parties used to give us a free hand with regard to slogans and even the script. So we could add peppy things. Now everything is censored and the script is provided by the parties after a lot of vetting,” Prajith says.
Another way the business made money was by setting up recording studios.
“Come election, we would do audio mixes based on popular film songs for the candidates. But that business has now gone to the big studios in Thiruvananthapuram,” he adds.
Festivals and marriages are the saving grace, says Kochu, adding that election work is nowadays taken up by individuals who have small businesses or those close to political parties.