Author: Deeya Nambiar

I believe in taking every day as a learning phase, and exploring my writing skills. I have enjoyed the challenges as a journalist, content writer and college lecturer, and at the moment am living life analysing the extraordinary in the ordinary!

Split Wide Open

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Seance on a Sunday Afternoon is collection of short stories about emotions, situations and circumstances that reflect the little nuances of life. By Deeya Nayar-Nambiar

Set in the modern society of sex and the city, hard-pressed for time, every character is self-indulgent. Shinie Antony pens her stories mysteriously and mischievously like the contemporary artist who paints with bold brush strokes to bring out the symbolism and meaningfulness.

Giving the reader a slice of urban society with its confluence of the dos and don’ts, Seance on a Sunday Afternoon is a collection of short stories that reflect the little nuances of the lives, of human emotions, people in queer situations and circumstances. The stories are a trail of words and word play, poetic at times and prose otherwise.

Shinie lives through the characters, springing them to life to tell their tales as if in flesh and blood. Her bold writing style is not only her freedom of expression but also an expression of bold and sensuous themes on a lighter note. If one sentence provokes laughter, the other moves you to tears.

Even the harsh realities of life as a breast cancer patient, L finds a new meaning to her lost beauty. Elsewhere, a widow re-marries but still cannot come to terms with her first husband’s death. Everything is handled delicately.

Stories like ‘The Sofa’ and the ‘Seance On A Sunday Afternoon’ bring out the feelings of old people and the young, their memories, loneliness, detachments and attachments. In the process of writing, Shinie brings to life inanimate objects such as the sofa, fan and cancer.

Shinie’s tryst with writing is not new. As a journalist she polished her skills in imaginative and intuitive writing and has not looked back since her ‘Somewhere in Gujarat’ and ‘A Dog’s Death’ bagged the first prize in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition in 2001 and 2002.

Fascinated by the dark side of life, and an interest to keep pace with the Net savvy world, Shinie has also attempted to write like a blogger, uses sms language and similies, to explore the mind of a housewife who wants to connect with others in the cyber space.

Indeed, to understand the hidden facts of relationships and life in a city, the reader as a “common man” should sharpen his intellect to decipher or interpret the wit and the beauty of the language and idiom of Seance on a Sunday Afternoon.

Séance On A Sunday Afternoon

Shinie Antony

Rupa & Co, Rs 195

Published in June 2008, btw of Chitralekha Group

Interesting Fact: August 2008

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There has never been a dearth of facts…

1. Saturn is the only planet in our solar system that is less dense than water. If you could build an imaginary gigantic bathtub, Saturn would float in it says NASA

2. Basenji, smallish dog with a silky copper coat, does not bark. Instead, it yodels when it gets excited

3. Fossilised tree sap or resin must be at least 30 million years old to be recognised as Amber. Interestingly it is considered as one of the most popular gemstone in jewellery

4. The 4 minutes 33 seconds (4’33”) musical piece is famous for its no sound at all. Written by the American composer John Cage, it is a piano piece where a pianist sits at the piano and plays nothing for exactly 4 minutes and 33 seconds

5. One of the most important inventions in history was the rubber band-powered airplane, the planophore. French scientist Alphonse Penaud astounded everyone by flying a rubber band-powered aircraft for 131 feet. Indeed it was the first recorded flight of an inherently stable aircraft

6. Nepal is the only country without a rectangular flag as theirs look like two pennants glued on top of the other

7. The most filmed story of all time is Dracula followed by Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and and Oliver Twist in the second and third position

8. Libra, the Scales, is the only inanimate symbol in the zodiac signs

9. Pingu a swiss animated children’s television serial has adventures that are suitable for broadcast in any language, because the closest thing it has to a dialog is in a non-language called “Penguinese”

10. Nasturtiums have long been prized for their nutritive value. A nasturtium leaf is as high in vitamin C as a lettuce leaf

By Deeya Nayar-Nambiar, Published in SigningOff column, btw of Chitralekha Group

Radio Ga-Ga

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Making a conversation before millions of listeners is not as easy as it appears so training is a must to become a radio jockey. By Deeya Nayar-Nambiar

Headed home after a day’s work and caught in the usual traffic snarl can drive anyone up the wall. But thanks to radio jockeys on FM, the journey can never be a drag. The friendly voice gives company to the lonely, alerts on traffic jams or the weather, jokes and music to see you safely home. You can also interact with them and feel good about being heard. Their words often act as a quick solution to those in despair.

With the FM radio boom – the government has sold 338 frequencies across 91 cities in the second phase of FM radio licensing – we will soon have a lot many radio channels in our kitty. As a result, the job market for RJs has really opened up. “When you offer 10 channels in a metro and four in smaller towns, the only way to survive will be through channel differentiation. Research shows that 70 per cent of listeners can’t differentiate between one FM channel and another based on content. This definitely will have to change,” says Nisha Narayanan, media consultant for radio and TV at exchange4media.com. It is the RJ who often makes the difference to a radio station, slowly evolving as a household name and a constant companion from dawn to dusk and through the night.

“Radio jockeying is an art. It often starts as a hobby that is pursued with passion and becomes a profession gradually,” says Darrpan Mehta, former RJ and now managing director and CEO of Sugar Mediaz. It is the voice that stimulates and keeps the listener arrested. Spontaneous, friendly, witty, the RJ ably speaks on anything and everything under the sun. They laugh at their blunder and make you laugh at them too. Their zingy talk and music spice up your life in general. “Making a conversation before millions of listeners is not as easy as it appears. It is the presence of mind and the ability to say things which would capture the interest of people that counts,” says Tarana, RJ at Radio One 92.5 FM.

Radio jockeying may sound a glamorous and easy job, but a no gyan, chalta hai attitude will reach you nowhere. As Tarana puts it, the listener respects you for the opinions you feel strongly about. “People like to hear. It is evident from the way they recognise us by voice. They mail, sms, call and speak to us as if they are our best friends! Though the relationship is very professional, still it is nice to find them very familiar,” she adds.

It is often said that you should have a good voice. It is definitely an asset but primarily the listener should love to listen to you. As the experienced hands in the field observe, for a good RJ it is essential that (s)he has much more than a good, clear modulated voice and diction.

An aspiring RJ should have the right attitude, be well read, should research and script the programme and have the ability to speak on anything and everything besides being smart. You must create magic with presence of mind and a sense of humour. Also, you build a relationship with your audience if you know the art of laughing at yourself for the goof up being aired. Often the programmes are impromptu and a good RJ should know how to keep the show going – making it interesting, perfect, sounding as if conversing and leaving the listener wanting more.

According to the doyen of radio jockeys Ameen Sayani, “The essential qualities to be developed by RJs are clarity of speech and thought, natural informality (chatty) without sounding faked or hammed and building up one’s own distinct personality for if you start aping anyone – or following the general trend – you’ll never succeed.” He lays special emphasis on doing enough homework for each session and knowing your song schedule in advance.  “Make notes, but avoid reading from them and you must always sound as if you are conversing with listeners,” he advises. “Be and sound sincere for if listeners stop believing in you, they’ll never listen to you again,” he warns.

It is equally important for a RJ to be tech savvy and have knowledge of the contemporary language usage. According to Darrpan, “Language is necessary to keep with popular tastes. Some radio stations are going Hindi like Go 92.5 FM that is now called Radio One 92.5 FM.” At such a time an RJ who is well versed in Hindi and English will have an edge over others. In today’s competitive environment, RJs can survive only if they are professionally trained. “A RJ is as much a professional as a doctor or engineer.

Training gives you a more methodical approach to voice acting, dubbing, radio programming and other finer nuances of radio,” says Darrpan. Such training helps your growth prospects. An RJ may have a shelf life, but look at it as being a radio professional that would help you to take up production, anchoring television programmes, becoming voice artists, and move into other fields. “It is certainly good to join a reputed training facility/course that teaches complete radio presentation, including getting to know how to handle hardware,” agrees Sayani.

The industry does not have many training institutes. Primarily, you have to be a graduate. “You may have the talent but do not know how to sell your voice. Training takes care of all these factors. Once trained, the institute helps with placement”, says Tarana. A fresher may earn Rs 10,000 and as you become popular and establish yourself as a brand, you can quote your price. After all, radio anchoring is all about creating a signature style, getting branded and learning to live up to the image. “The success or failure of a channel is very much dependent on it,” says Darrpan.

A Few Names

Encompass Institute of Radio Management (EMDI) offers a one-year diploma in radio management and three month radio jockey certificate course

All India Radio offers a two months course

The Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA), conducts exams through CAT(IIM).Offers internship with FM Radio channels as part of its one-year graduate programme in broadcasting management

The Xavier’s Institute of Commumnications, Mumbai.

Sugar Mediaz offers a two and a half months Voice Training Workshop for those aspiring to be Radio Jockeys.

Published in July 2006, btw of Chitralekha Group

Interesting Fact: July 2008

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It has been a great experience in reading and collecting these facts. Hope you enjoy too.

1. In the aftermath of World War II, Japanese biologist Shinya Inoue used a tin can and a discarded machine gun to build the first polarised light microscope

2. Europe’s red-barbed ants form colonies that are either entirely male or female. Believe it or not, the two sexes can never live together!

3. Half of the oxygen in the atmosphere comes from microscopic life in the world’s ocean

4. A statue of Vladimir Lenin stands at the South Pole of Inaccessibility, the point on Antarctica that is furthest from the ocean

5. Policemen in Tijuana equipped themselves with slingshots in January 2007 after the Mexican government took away their guns

6. Austria has a series of postage stamps that contains real meteorite dust. The stamps issued in 2006 had the dust collected from a 19 kg meteorite found in Morocco

7. Red-billed Quelea (Quelea quelea) from south of the Sahara in Africa is one of the most common wild bird in the world. These birds are so prolific that they are serious pests and millions are killed at roost sites every year in a vain attempt to control their numbers

8. British sailors used to be called “Limeys” because they ate citrus to prevent scurvy on long sea voyages

9. Zorro is the most filmed cartoon character and featured in 69 films. Created by Johnston McCully, he was the first comic strip character to be the subject shown in a major film, The Mark of Zorro (USA 1920).

10. Widow is the only female form in the English language that is shorter than its corresponding male term (widower)

By Deeya Nayar-Nambiar, Published in SigningOff column (April 2008), btw of Chitralekha Group