Lokabhiraam ' A Critic's View

There are some people whom you have never seen but have always heard of them. The buzz around them as well as the loads of information that comes out in public about them is something which makes them a part of our life.

One such person or rather personality is Lokabhiraam. You can meet him at Lokabhiraam @ RadioIdli . He talks in Konkani of the Manglorian kind, peppered with Kannada, Tulu, Marathi, English and sometimes Hindi too.

If one listens to Lokabhiraam, you will find he talks about things that go around you. Nothing new that way. But what is new is the way to look at things.

So you may normally feel that kid is pestering you with silly questions, Lokabhiraam disagrees. For him these kids give a point of view which you always had somewhere deep down in your mind, but always hesitated to tell it aloud for the fear of getting ridiculed.

Lokabhiraam may make fun of somebody, but then he is equally sincere in acknowledge the person's contribution to the society. Lokabhiraam believes in blowing of the hypocritical mask that we put on our face and move around in the society, mainly due to lack of courage to be different. His way of looking at things differently and humorously has endeared him to the Radioidli listeners so much that, his fans make it a point to listen to it as soon as it comes online and also to comment on it.

Such is the popularity of his talks, that recently when he decided to take a break for a while, fans from all around the world started a campaign to search where has Lokabhiraam has disappeared. Fortunately he is back and now he has spoken of the evergreen topic of the Indian Roads. In the past he has spoken on mobiles, kids, film songs, exams and yes, cricket too.

But WHO IS LOKABHIRAM?

This is one question everyone raises but very few know the real answers. He came in as a mysterious man from Mangalore and remains so. Even many of the core RadioIdli team is unaware of the real identity of Lokabhiraam. This mystery itself adds to his fan following. From his talks we have some hints about him, he is an engineer, he is married middle aged gentleman (hope that doesn't break some hearts) and yes he is quite a good observer who can be one among us as well.

What distinguishes Lokabhiraam from all of us is that he sees what we see but observes what we don't, he hears what we hear but listens what we don't and speaks what we always wanted to talk somewhere deep in our heart, but never could speak due to the various social inhibitions we carry.

But then you will ask, are you not curious about knowing who Lokabhiraam is.

No I don't. That's because, I have realised over the weeks of listening to him, that his anonymity is his advantage. That is because if you have a real person in front of you, you start referencing all that he talks to what you already know about him. Now you have your brain working a picture of how Lokabhiraam would be looking and what could he be talking next on. That's what makes him more enjoyable.

Do try and listen to him, if you don't understand, listen again; it will take some time to throw off your inhibitions, before he enters your psyche. And once he gets in, it's difficult to get him out, because till then you have discovered the Lokabhiraam in you.