Go Gaga with Radio

RJ Vijay from Radio Mirchi says, ‘What I enjoyed the most about radio is it’s mystery. We do not know who the person is or what his body langauge is but we would listen to what he has to say because he would be interesting. That’s one of my fondest memories of radio.’ When this does reflect why Vijay chose to be a Radio Jockey (RJ), his answer to the question was entirely different and not to mention amusing – ‘You needn’t wear make-up for radio. Seriously! You needn’t dress up. I loved that a lot. You can come in wearing a simple t-shirt and a pair of shorts to do your job and that’s it. It’s that simple. The cherry on top is, I get to enjoy work by listening to music. When this thought sunk in, I realised this is what I wanted to do.’

As I said earlier, when it comes to radio there’s no single version and hence RJ Syed’s memory of radio went like this, ‘I remember the security guard at my grandma’s house have a tape-recorder (currently vintage) and manually change the frequency. He was a mad scientist who’ll get the exact frequency every time he tried and I still thank him for teaching me the unique art..haha... I remember shifting through the FM stations and imitating the RJ’s especially RJ Imsai Arasi. She was a fire-cracker.’

‘Another memory which stuck out to me was in school, I called an RJ to enroll myself in a workshop. But since he was On-Air, he had me on hold while he Jockeyed his way through radio. Once he got back to me, his tone was normal. His ability to control the energy and charisma in his voice within seconds was brilliant.’ Saying this, he also mentions how he set up a vision board which consisted of things he loved to do and where being a Radio Jockey was on the top. ‘I printed a lame resume and made a voice sample on a CD which’s copies I mailed to every radio station in the city but never got a call back until I did at the least expected moment.’

Of course, times change and every piece of technology progresses. You needn’t carry a radio; cause disturbance to your surroundings or have to record the radio messages to listen to it on repeat. By the year 2010, every man on earth could fit radio into his own pocket and have a wire suspended from his ear to the phone as internet slowly but steadily grew.

and needn’t have time taken to listen to it. You might be in a tea-stall with a couple of friends and radio in the background will entertain you.’ While Vijay does agree that a dozen apps in one’s phone might be the main attraction, radio never fails to surprise. ‘It is always surprising everyone. You can search for a specific song and listen to it but with radio you never know how it may surprise you. I might announce something big happening tomorrow and people would wait for it. That surprise is Radio!’

Echoing RJ Vijay’s words, why search for something specific? Be surprised. Follow the calling from your pocket and plug out reality…

However, a few years ago, just when we thought there was possiblity of radio being an extinct medium, it proved everyone wrong as it came to aid in the most disastrous time - The 2015 floods of Chennai. Internet was off. Telephone lines didn’t work. No electricity. Water jammed the news printers. And radio… well radio just like in World War II, spread calamity news, help announcements, songs, safety tips and often rumours too. ‘Radio according to me is a never ending and a never fading medium.’ Chimes RJ Vijay. ‘The consumption of radio might change. It can be digitalized and converted into different forms but radio as a medium always rocks. It’s a background medium