Perched atop a tree in his father's vegetable garden at Mohammed Ville's lands in the 1930s, young Kamaluddin Mohammed sang Indian songs to cheer up his brothers who worked hard tilling the land and planting crops. This was the telltale pointer to an illustrious career in radio broadcasting of Indian songs and music.

Young Mohammed grew up with a great love for Indian songs and music and, with his boyhood friend Mahadeo Hingoo, they made many a trip to the cinema to see the popular Hindi movies of the day.

Born on April 19, 1927 at El Socorro, Kamaluddin "Kamal" Mohammed learnt the tenets of Islam from an early age. There were 13 children in the family with Kamal being the fifth. His father Fazal Mohammed and mother Khajiman Kartoun were both learned in Islamic tradition and were also competent in Arabic, Urdu and Persian, knowledge of which they imparted to their children. They were not rich but they taught their children the value of a sound education, family tradition, culture and religious values.

As a student of Islamic scholar Maulana Nazir Ahmad Simab who came from Lahore, India, in 1935, Kamal was exposed to the discipline of reading, writing, translation and transliteration of Arabic, Urdu and Persian. His thirst for knowledge did not stop there. From Pundit Dindial Sharma, of the El Socorro Hindu School, he learnt Hindi and the singing of bhajans.

This upbringing laid the foundation for Kamal's scholarly achievements in these oriental languages.

A young, learned Kamal went on to become an Imam at the age of 18 at the Queen Street Mosque in Port of Spain.

At the opening of Radio Trinidad in September 1947, religious leaders representing the Muslim, Christian and Hindu faiths were invited to bless the station. Fr. Finbar Ryan represented the Christian community, Pundit Bhagowtie, the Hindu community and Haji Ruknudeen Sahib, the Muslims. Kamal's duty on that memorable day was to translate into English from Urdu and Arabic the prayers recited by Haji Ruknudeen. His translation was so fluent and impressive that one week later he was offered a job to host the first Indian radio programme Indian Talent on Parade.

On Sunday September 26, 1947, Kamal played the first Indian song ever to be heard on a local radio station. He recalls the song: "Kush Raho Tum Allah Wale" (Be happy, O you creatures of God) from the film Noor-E-Yeman and sung by Imam Farook. Of course the song was played from a record and subsequent songs on the programme were from records.

The electronic equipment, Kamal remembers, was 'primitive', and they occupied a make-shift studio.

The next week Kamal played the songs of K.C. Dey, Pearu and Kaloo Quawal. The Indian population received 'their music' with great enthusiasm. As the popularity of the programme spread, people started to gather around homes with radios to hear the vice of Kamal and the popular Indian songs of the day.

Soon, Kamal met Nazeer Mohammed, leader of the Naya Zamana orchestra and an arrangement was made for Naya Zamana to perform live on Indian Talent on Parade. Naya Zamana played regularly for the next six months. The next band featured on Indian Talent on Parade was Sonny Chandi's Young Indian National Orchestra.

Kamal also took the time to journey to remote parts of the country to invite Indian bands to perform live on radio. He made sure, of course, that bands were properly rehearsed to the point of perfection suitable for radio programming. Soon bands like S.M. Aziz orchestra, Jit Seesahai's Melody Makers, Naya Tarana, Basant Bahar and Nau Jawan among others were making regular trips to Radio Trinidad. Basic musical instruments like the harmonium, dholak, dhantal with other percussion instruments were the main instruments of the day.

Later on some bands brought in the violin, mandolin, guitar, accordion, drums set, clarinet, etc.

Bright singing stars emerged to light up the landscape. They included Tarran Persad, Isaac Yankaran, Champa Devi, Jagroo Quawal, Jang Bahadoor, Zora Seesahai, Bhola Persad, Jameer Hosein, Henry 'Tooloom' Dindial and James Ramsewak.

And for all his hard work, Kamal was paid the sum of $10 per programme. By the 1950s, Kamal, in his green Velox car, P5100, had become an icon of Indian culture.

Kamal gave up broadcasting in 1962 after passing on the baton to his younger brothers, Sham and Moean. And they in turn went on to launch successful careers on radio programmes and the TV programme Indian Variety in 1962, and Mastana Bahar in 1970.

A fine author of Indian songs, Kamal composed the winning song for Tarran Persad at the 1962 Independence singing contest. He also composed for Jameer Hosein and Lachand 'Rafi' Singh among other top artistes. He still finds time to assist artistes with their compositions and translations.

Along with his career as a host of Indian radio programmes, he entered politics in 1953. Winning his seat, he became a county councilor and was elected Chairman of the St George East County Council. That was a launching pad for his entry into national politics. In 1956, on a PNM ticket, he emerged victorious at the national polls and entered Parliament.

For the next 30 years Kamal went on to serve the country with distinction in the Ministries of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries; Public Utilities; West Indian Affairs; External Affairs and Health and Local Government, and in many other areas of public life.

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