Sitting at home on a off-day (studying for an exam) felt weird. Specially in the morning.
The first realisation is that of time - 4 hours is indeed LONG :) you never realise it when you are on-air and in that chilled studio!
Also - what we assume is happening off-air when we are on-air might be very different from what we assume it to be. A constant check on that should be a must for every radio jockey.
Seeing the sunrise was my favourite moment of the morning and I hope everyone who gets to see it every morning - appreciates its value. Morning show jocks complete miss out on the city "waking up" .. apparently they are supposed to be doing it.. but then, a calm cup of tea sitting on a table and stomach full of breakfast when its actually supposed to be eaten... is something I wouldn't mind a few days of the week.
All of us miss it - to make the mornings better for the listeners.. hope its successful everytime we say "Good Morning!"
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Do you always have to Happy?
So, whenever I tell someone I am a radio-jockey, one of the questions that comes out after the regular one or two - is "It must be difficult na - to be Happy ALL the time?!" :)
I like this question and I often question myself - am I really like that? Happy all the time? In fact, you would be amazed to know that I am one of those who is NOT from the 'happy-go-lucky' communities. Off-air I am always asked - why aren't you smiling? whats the matter? etc etc.. so for me to be asked the very opposite by people is often strange. And then its weirder coz I dont have an answer really..
Now I cant say about everyone (i.e. the jock community) - but I can figure out my answer may be.
First things first: I do not make any efforts to 'be happy'. I am if I am, and not if I am not.
And now to explore further:
Being On-Air is a high and somehow, now matter how I am feeling when I walk into the studio... it takes me just a song and a mike to get lost in a world that even I am unaware of. I will smile and I will talk... and I will love it when I connect. Connect with someone, somewhere. Somehow. And whenever I do - I know it. And when I know - I just start feeling happier. May be, when I send love and smiles out- I get some back (from someone, somewhere) and it keeps multiplying in me. Therefore, even if I do start the show on a low note, by the time I reach the middle, I could be jumping around in the studio!
So I guess I have my listeners to thank for the happiness I feel everyday. Wow! Thank you.
And yes, there are days when I am out of sorts, something goes wrong around you, you might be feeling angry, sad or lost - but those days you are on auto-pilot then. Mike On = Block everything else.
But sooner or later, I feel like someone's giving me a hug, or smiling at me, or sending love in the 'air' - and I can just feel the high and the 'kick' all over again!
I like this question and I often question myself - am I really like that? Happy all the time? In fact, you would be amazed to know that I am one of those who is NOT from the 'happy-go-lucky' communities. Off-air I am always asked - why aren't you smiling? whats the matter? etc etc.. so for me to be asked the very opposite by people is often strange. And then its weirder coz I dont have an answer really..
Now I cant say about everyone (i.e. the jock community) - but I can figure out my answer may be.
First things first: I do not make any efforts to 'be happy'. I am if I am, and not if I am not.
And now to explore further:
Being On-Air is a high and somehow, now matter how I am feeling when I walk into the studio... it takes me just a song and a mike to get lost in a world that even I am unaware of. I will smile and I will talk... and I will love it when I connect. Connect with someone, somewhere. Somehow. And whenever I do - I know it. And when I know - I just start feeling happier. May be, when I send love and smiles out- I get some back (from someone, somewhere) and it keeps multiplying in me. Therefore, even if I do start the show on a low note, by the time I reach the middle, I could be jumping around in the studio!
So I guess I have my listeners to thank for the happiness I feel everyday. Wow! Thank you.
And yes, there are days when I am out of sorts, something goes wrong around you, you might be feeling angry, sad or lost - but those days you are on auto-pilot then. Mike On = Block everything else.
But sooner or later, I feel like someone's giving me a hug, or smiling at me, or sending love in the 'air' - and I can just feel the high and the 'kick' all over again!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Feed-back.
Yes it matters. Yes, its important. In fact, every artist thrives on it. Feed-back.
But I was wondering where this term came from and what it means.
Dictionary says: the process in which part of the output of a system is returned to its input in order to regulate its further output.
Also: Feedback is a series broadcast on BBC Radio 4, presented by Roger Bolton
Also: "Feedback" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson
Then I gave up on Google and Wiki :)
And got thinking - which most of us have forgotten to do - thanks to google... and just read the word again.. Feed - Back.
Its pretty simple - when I perform, please feed me back :)
But I was wondering where this term came from and what it means.
Dictionary says: the process in which part of the output of a system is returned to its input in order to regulate its further output.
Also: Feedback is a series broadcast on BBC Radio 4, presented by Roger Bolton
Also: "Feedback" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson
Then I gave up on Google and Wiki :)
And got thinking - which most of us have forgotten to do - thanks to google... and just read the word again.. Feed - Back.
Its pretty simple - when I perform, please feed me back :)
Monday, January 31, 2011
I wanna be the Sunshine Girl..
This blog is dedicated to the maintenance guy in my office who claims to keep the studio temperature @22-23 degrees everyday - but obviously its anywhere below 10!
Every morning I begin with asking them to just shut the freaking AC before I begin the show since I know I cant handle it and then by 9 - I am stuttering into my links since the cold has by now gone and settled into my bones. (dont give me the obvious - oh why dont you wear a jacket? I DO!)
After another round of shouting and dhamkis (I once actually told them I will not do the show) - and then just rushing out at 11 after my last link - ASAP - I RUN outside the office to treat myself to some human conditions. Normal air - normal temperature and some sunshine!
I have in the process fallen in love with the sunshine. I think its got more than just Vitamin D to offer. Some of the things that I get treated to: warmth, love, that feeling of meeting a friend..sometimes feels like you are hugging someone and sometimes feels like someone just rescued you! Then sometimes it soothes your jammed nerves and sometimes just smiles at you. I know - this might mean nothing to people who live in cities like Dubai.. but believe me, try and spend some time with the sun alone on a random morning and it has so much to give you. Silence is beautiful, and with sunshine to go with - well, its just the frosting on the cake.
I do get it when the singer sings..'Ain't no sunshine when she's gone..' - I love that song.. Bill Withers. Do check it out if you havent yet.
And if ever someone says to me - you're my Sunshine Girl.. it would be the best compliment in my life :)
But still - can we please do something about the freaking temperature in the studio!!
Every morning I begin with asking them to just shut the freaking AC before I begin the show since I know I cant handle it and then by 9 - I am stuttering into my links since the cold has by now gone and settled into my bones. (dont give me the obvious - oh why dont you wear a jacket? I DO!)
After another round of shouting and dhamkis (I once actually told them I will not do the show) - and then just rushing out at 11 after my last link - ASAP - I RUN outside the office to treat myself to some human conditions. Normal air - normal temperature and some sunshine!
I have in the process fallen in love with the sunshine. I think its got more than just Vitamin D to offer. Some of the things that I get treated to: warmth, love, that feeling of meeting a friend..sometimes feels like you are hugging someone and sometimes feels like someone just rescued you! Then sometimes it soothes your jammed nerves and sometimes just smiles at you. I know - this might mean nothing to people who live in cities like Dubai.. but believe me, try and spend some time with the sun alone on a random morning and it has so much to give you. Silence is beautiful, and with sunshine to go with - well, its just the frosting on the cake.
I do get it when the singer sings..'Ain't no sunshine when she's gone..' - I love that song.. Bill Withers. Do check it out if you havent yet.
And if ever someone says to me - you're my Sunshine Girl.. it would be the best compliment in my life :)
But still - can we please do something about the freaking temperature in the studio!!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
@6:30 on Mumbai Roads!
A lot of people sympathise with jocks who do the morning show since they have to wake up at 5 am every morning and be at office @6am! My god!
But then they tell you- par achha hai na - no traffic at that time and while returning also - afternoon must be good.
Now - to clear all doubts - morning 6 am in Mumbai is also mad on the roads. Just think of a traffic scenario and pick the worst of the lot, the ingredients that make the traffic jams more irritating than they actually are: swinging Cycle walas, rash truck walas, dadagiri BEST buses, slow and BP raising autos!
Now put all of these together on my way to office - quite a hair-pulling experience I assure :)
But then they tell you- par achha hai na - no traffic at that time and while returning also - afternoon must be good.
Now - to clear all doubts - morning 6 am in Mumbai is also mad on the roads. Just think of a traffic scenario and pick the worst of the lot, the ingredients that make the traffic jams more irritating than they actually are: swinging Cycle walas, rash truck walas, dadagiri BEST buses, slow and BP raising autos!
Now put all of these together on my way to office - quite a hair-pulling experience I assure :)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Back On-Air!
Been so long since I last wrote since I was busy with quitting my job and then joining a new place and then obviously working in it!
So I am back to a radio station! And I am back on-air! Where? Well, that's not important. Really... it does not matter. Point being I am again a part of something I love so much. Radio.
The reasons for taking it up back are many but I do know one thing for sure, that it feels like home. And its not about being in a comfort zone, its about going back to something you love and something you know the workings of.
I often used to tell people that if I join radio again it would be like getting back with someone that I've broken up with. And it is exactly that. The expectations, the familiarity and yet the distance, the feeling of being sure and yet unsure. and also the 'I knew this would happen' moments are already arriving :)
But I realise that I can keep writing - now as a jock. So i'll close this chapter and begin a new one :)
So I am back to a radio station! And I am back on-air! Where? Well, that's not important. Really... it does not matter. Point being I am again a part of something I love so much. Radio.
The reasons for taking it up back are many but I do know one thing for sure, that it feels like home. And its not about being in a comfort zone, its about going back to something you love and something you know the workings of.
I often used to tell people that if I join radio again it would be like getting back with someone that I've broken up with. And it is exactly that. The expectations, the familiarity and yet the distance, the feeling of being sure and yet unsure. and also the 'I knew this would happen' moments are already arriving :)
But I realise that I can keep writing - now as a jock. So i'll close this chapter and begin a new one :)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Humming a different tune ;)
Radio Jingles have always been an integral part of the identity of the station - specially in this super crowded space. At least I've always felt its important! Specially since the day I wanted the RED fm jingle to be my ringtone 3 years back :)
It came to my mind to write about it mainly because I heard myself singing along the new jingle of the new Oye! Totally fun - though it missed the frequency completely - as do the hoardings all around town. I dont know when the agencies will realise that the frequency is all there is to promoting a radio station. I know what your name is, but I dont know where you live, so how do I come and meet you? :)
In any case, I am moving away from the point. So I just realised that after long - almost all stations actually have good jingles for themselves.
Radio Mirchi - Vishal-Shekhar doing the honours there
Red Fm - I think its Sachin Gupta..
Oye - Ram Sampat with a brand new station image to manage
Radio One - Shankar Ehsaan Loy singing along as brand ambassadors
Radio City has a really catchy one
Big fm - tagging their elements with the last 3-4 notes beautifully with a lot of variety
In a country that lives on Music and Masala, I think its only fair that radio stations invest in creating a musical identity for themselves. Which is why I always wonder why Fever stayed away from it.
In any case, here's wishing 104.8 a healthy new avatar. Its not every other day that a frequency changes names. The last one we remember is the transition of Go to Radio One. This is also just the second station to have a Hindi-ish name to itself now. Besides Mirchi & Oye, its City, Red, Fever, Big, One - all insisting on Hindi programming - strange isn't it? :)
It came to my mind to write about it mainly because I heard myself singing along the new jingle of the new Oye! Totally fun - though it missed the frequency completely - as do the hoardings all around town. I dont know when the agencies will realise that the frequency is all there is to promoting a radio station. I know what your name is, but I dont know where you live, so how do I come and meet you? :)
In any case, I am moving away from the point. So I just realised that after long - almost all stations actually have good jingles for themselves.
Radio Mirchi - Vishal-Shekhar doing the honours there
Red Fm - I think its Sachin Gupta..
Oye - Ram Sampat with a brand new station image to manage
Radio One - Shankar Ehsaan Loy singing along as brand ambassadors
Radio City has a really catchy one
Big fm - tagging their elements with the last 3-4 notes beautifully with a lot of variety
In a country that lives on Music and Masala, I think its only fair that radio stations invest in creating a musical identity for themselves. Which is why I always wonder why Fever stayed away from it.
In any case, here's wishing 104.8 a healthy new avatar. Its not every other day that a frequency changes names. The last one we remember is the transition of Go to Radio One. This is also just the second station to have a Hindi-ish name to itself now. Besides Mirchi & Oye, its City, Red, Fever, Big, One - all insisting on Hindi programming - strange isn't it? :)
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