I always love being on stage, and I love to use my voice to share my opinions. I was never a shy child. I always loved to be on stage to dance to the present to be a part of debates .That's where my sort of interest lay and I knew I wanted to do something more than just being a part of a regular corporate nine to five job.
1.Tell us about your background and journey.
I have actually been a radio jockey with 94.3 Radio One Chennai for the past three and a half years. I started my career with them in the year 2017, August, 1 was my first official day on a radio, but actually by education I completed my Bachelor's of engineering in Electronics and Communication from St Joseph's Chennai, and went on to do my Masters in Business Administration from the University of Aberdeen Scotland, but I realized that my heart, truly stayed with the media field as such, I've been a masters of ceremony since 2012, .So actually, in fact, even before that I used to do a lot of voiceovers I used to do a lot of our presentations, both in school and college.
I was always interested in the spotlight. I always love being on stage, and I love to use my voice to share my opinions. I was never a shy child. I always loved to be on stage to dance to the present to be a part of debates .That's where my sort of interest lay and I knew I wanted to do something more than just being a part of a regular corporate nine to five job.
2. Why did you choose RJ in his career and what were the first steps you took
Actually to be very honest to me becoming an RJ was by chance I just happened to go to the interview.
I was looking for a change in career I was working as a social media manager for an organization for a PR firm, and in the meantime I was also freelancing as an emcee and I was also doing I had a stint with a very popular travel channel here in South India and I was doing a show. I had done four seasons about 52 episodes, and when the season came to an end. I was thinking of what next . I wanted to go into a different medium. So at that time Radio One was hiring.
Then we were a Bollywood station so they wanted somebody with a basic knowledge of Hindi music and someone who could communicate in English well, I just went out it was a blind shot I had no clue that I would get selected but I went through the auditions gave it my best shot and yeah there's been no looking back, ever since. It was a happy accident for me, it was not like I had a planned this. It was a very happy accident that I ended up being there at the right place at the right time and I got the opportunity for which I feel very privileged and lucky.
3.What are the challenges one face during live calls ?
During a live call you cannot control what the person on the other side is going to be saying and we have certain rules and regulations that we follow in our radio station ,certain topics cannot be discussed, certain words cannot be used or there is no foul language that is allowed. So steering the conversation in the right manner and making sure that the person on the other end is coming to the point quickly is something that is a very big challenge and that is something that we all sort of try and win over.
4.What are the skills required to be a radio jockey?
This is a very subjective thing a lot of people think, if you have a good voice you can become a radio jockey but a more than a good voice, you need to be spontaneous. You need to be very good with the language because that is very important especially the phonetics, depending on the language that you are speaking, whether it's Malayalam or Tamil, there are certain Miro intricacies that are associated with each language and that should be respected.
Good grammar is very important as how you present the content , how you handle things in life . you should make sure that your listeners are engaged, that is a skill that you can sort of develop, keeping yourself updated that is very important it's not just about speaking or certain topic or preparing and having a script and reading it from. You need to be able to own the content and make it your own., These are my top skills. You can learn there are a few technical things that you need to learn to become a radio jockey, that is a part of the process you can definitely always go back and learn it so that's not something anybody needs to be worried about.
5.That's one also need to be technologically savvy in your favorite ?
It helps if you understand technology well, it's not a mandate, it's not like you have to be technologically sound because I had no clue how to use a console when I first started off, but you can always learn it . I keep upgrading myself. That is important. The willingness to learn is very, very important
6. What makes a person connect with their audience is an RJ ?
It's a great question. It's a little easier on television because people see you right, they know what kind of a personality you are and they have a sort of idea as to who you could be. And a lot of people could fall in love with your looks, but on our radio It's not like that. They only listen to your voice. So if you want to create a connection you need to be authentic. You need to be true to yourself. That is extremely important. You can't fake it. You can't lie, you can't be somebody else because your true personality will eventually show.
You cannot fake a personality here. If you imitate somebody or if you try to be like someone else, then it will show very very clearly on radio so be true to yourself, that is very important and talk relatable content, like, be aware of what you're talking about that sort of makes the listener want to engage with you more. Being very honest., being very true to your personality as to who you are definitely helps build a very good rapport.
7. What is a piece of advice you would like to give to the future and aspiring artists ?
Advice is a very strong word, a lot of people don't like to be advised. But you have to be consistent in whatever it is that you do in whatever it is that you want and don't search for Fame. Fame is very short lived, don't do anything that you do for fame or instant recognition, it's not going to get you very far, but be consistent, be the best at what you do by working hard, right, be a good person, do good things . Rome was not built in a day. If you want something to happen to you, you need to go out there, grab opportunities and put yourself out there and be consistent in whatever you do. That is very important.
Success does not come to people who don't put in that work, I am a true believer of that. Little Luck is important, being at the right place at the right time is important. I'm not denying it. But I still think if you are consistent in your efforts and you keep showing up, keep practicing, keep getting better at what you do every single day. I'm sure that success will come to you. Don't look at other people and wonder why you are not there yet, you will get there you will eventually make a mark. If you keep doing what you're doing, and just believe in yourself. Be your own superhero, even when nobody's clapping for you, because sometimes we all need that extra push.
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