A fellow RJ pleads to the public, to come and declare that they abstain from substance abuse at the open-space ‘prison’ where Kidilam Firoz is ‘incarcerated’. The lengthy ‘talkathon’ of the RJ had just entered the second day then. An unrelenting Firoz was ready to sip tea if only the number of respondents touched 450. In this self-imposed six-day ‘jail term’, he had his own cast-iron rules to draw as many people to join his anti-substance abuse RJ marathon.
At the end of a six-day, five-night campaign, 4,040 people from the entire State came expressing solidarity to his mission with 947 persons taking voice oath. At the end of the mission, Firoz walked out of the prison proudly satisfied over his achievement — of rewriting his own record of 105 hours of non-stop RJing into 125 hours. The 105 hours of non-stop RJing had entered the Limca Book of Records way back in 2008. He literally fell upon the thorns in the 125-long hours and bled, facing all vagaries from death threat to plunging blood pressure levels to emotional drain-out.
Firoz inside the prison
“I had no plan B all throughout the drive. The prison doubled up as a miniature 24x7 broadcasting station office and as a campaigning space. Two generators ensured power supply, but after a while we found that won’t meet the requirement, still we managed the situation somehow ” says Firoz. Eight years down the lane, while making his debut radio record, Firoz, was in the pink of health and had no reasons to worry. Another attempt some years back during his overseas stint in the Middle East but worsened his health condition and he had a wafer-thin escape from a kidney malfunction. That man was here, in a public space next to the Martyr’s Column in the capital city, spending days and nights taking in only beverages.
Firoz with snake charmer Vava Suresh
“More or less, it turned out to be some sort of fast. On day one, my attempt was to survive only on water that resulted in low blood pressure level. As per doctors’ advice, I started taking tender coconut water with glucose, my main course. From second day, this became my routine with a 30-minute forced sleep. The Indian Medical Association’s support was immense for they assured to be by my side if my health condition worsened,” Firoz narrates. Symbolically, he wore a handcuff around one wrist.
Firoz with speaker P Sreeramakrishnan
Firoz claims, after a while, tip-offs came trickling in from diverse sources, mainly residents, regarding the sales points of materials like gutka/pan masala. “We hinted about one such place through our live show. And it irked those behind the sales. One midnight, certain people huddled near our venue to bite my head off. The threat was that I won’t stay alive for another day after August 16! That single incident was a blessing in disguise. It upped our security arrangements and our campaign shot to popularity.”
No threat could really knock the wind out of him than the emotional trauma he underwent. “I was spending days on a zero personal space. All my activities were visible to all. Hallucinations came in and out of my mind. I had to keep my emotions in check, my anger and frustrations. I felt totally cut off. Constant interaction of my team kept me stay alert to carry forward my drive.” On all days, the nearby Juma Masjid allotted space for him to take toilet break.
It was in the fifth edition of Vande Keralam, an anti-narcotic, alcohol drive of the radio station Big FM that Firoz achieved this fete. In the place of his target point 927 voice oath (corresponding to the FM frequency 92.7) that he received 947 people taking the oath. “My prison also served as a confessional. What amazed me was the presence of girls. We took a database of the confessors and still do follow up to assure that they undergo treatment for a narcotic-free life.” The talkathon that wound up on Independence Day had Power Minister Kadakampally Surendran ‘releasing’ him from the prison.
