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

Scrabble Scramble

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Over 100 million sets of Scrabble are sold in 121 countries in 29 different languages. By Deeya Nayar-Nambiar

“It’s only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away,” sang the Bee Gees and later Boyzone. These are just lyrics but true as the word: better the vocabulary, greater are the chances of conveying a message. And like children we continue to play and learn words in our free time instead of letting our mind become a devil’s workshop. Researchers have proved that reading, crossword puzzles and such other activities for the mind are a way to good health. Toy manufacturers and the software, keeping with the trends, offer the latest updated product. Thus Scrabble continues to find place in most homes.

Of course you know Scrabble, the board game you play with three friends of yours, often insisting that the word you have coined “is there in the dictionary.” The game has certain rules that you followed religiously, such as making words across and down in a crossword pattern on a 15 x 15 game board and counting scores from the points associated with each block or letter. Who knew Scrabble would become a popular game when an architect designed it.  Yes, Alfred Mosher Butts, the brainchild behind Scrabble, was an unemployed architect in US. When Butts lost his job, he decided to explore his passion for games and words. “Mild-mannered, bespectacled Butts disliked dice games; they were all down to luck. On the other hand, he felt that all-skill games, like chess, were too highbrow for the general public.” He devised a game in 1930s that was based on luck and skill and suited every player. All his efforts to sell his game failed till one day lawyer and game lover James Brunot got the rights. Brunot made a few adjustments to the design and renamed Criss-crosswords to ‘Scrabble’.

The game was trademarked and James Brunot and his wife converted an abandoned schoolhouse in Dodgington, Connecticut, into a Scrabble factory in 1948. But the Brunots could no longer keep up with demand and licensed game maker Selchow & Righter to market and distribute the game. Today over 100 million sets of Scrabble are sold in 121 countries in 29 different language versions. The Internet also caters to its fan offering many sites where they can play scrabble online. Not only this, there are several international Scrabble tournaments and even registered word lists such as SOWPODS, a combination of the British and American word lists. Again, for the computer savvy, Scrabble software versions such as Super Scrabble, Funkitron Scrabble Download, and players with artificial intelligence are available to keep you on toe. No wonder it’s world’s best selling word game!

Published in  December 2006, btw of Chitralekha Group

Hit Wicket

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Politics, religion and cricket blend in relationships marked by friendship, trust and betrayal make a right mix in Chetan Bhagat’s The 3 Mistakes Of My Life. Making a cameo appearance, Bhagat plays to the gallery.

The story begins with an e-mail that Chetan receives from Govind, a small-time businessman in Ahmedabad who has failed in an attempt to kill himself. Bhagat tracks down the hapless man and the story unfurls when Govind narrates his life like a flashback in a Bollywood film.

While three friends – Govind, Omi and Ishaan – appear as the boys next door who dream to make it big in life. Cricket is the mantra that will fulfill their aspirations. A little boy named Ali is an exceptional cricket player and the three friends want to groom and sponsor the prodigy to make their own dreams come true.

Putting their situation in the contemporary context correct, the attack on the World Trade Centre, the earthquake that shook Gujarat, Ayodhya and the Godhra incident are relived through the characters.

The aftershocks haunt them when the communal riots involve the friends and Ali. “Life will have many setbacks. People close to you will hurt you. But you don’t break it off. You don’t hurt them more. You try to heal it. It is a lesson not only you, but our country needs to learn.”

The 3 Mistakes… is predictable and a quick read. However, it offers little scope for reflection and thinking.

By Deeya Nayar-Nambiar, Published in June 2008, btw of Chitrakeha Publications