Rajiv Gaur - 92.7 Big FM Supported Me Every Time (Radio Jockey)

As much as your show is locally connected, Local people are connected to you, you are reaching them, you are taking them on the radio, so your show becomes more popular. So you are not a national Star, you are a Local Star, You have to focus locally

1.Tell us more about your background and journey.

I was born and brought up in Jamshedpur. I did most of my education in Jamshedpur. In 2010 I started my career as a Radio Jockey. That time I worked for 2 years as a Radio Jockey. My night show used to come "Raat Baki Baat Baki" and was quite a popular show. For two years I got a lot of love from the people. I was quite popular in my city. 

After that, I took a short break. I started my advertising agency. I started working there. Then in 2014, I was called again from 92.7 Big FM. Then I started my morning show, 'Big Chai', it used to come in the morning, and is still running. At the same time I did MBA from XLRI, postgraduate diploma in marketing and I revamped my agency's start-up, in which we do advertisements for very different types. 

I have lots of attachment with Jamshedpur, I was born here and everything happened here in my life. Studied at little flower school and Neta Ji Subhash public school. Graduated from Dr CV Raman University. And I live in Jamshedpur, I like it very much. 

It was a very tough journey because everything I have got is just because of my voice, nothing else. So this is the journey of mine and it taught me a lot ..Marketing, PR, Making connections with people. In today's date, if anyone knows me, helps me, only because of my talking behaviour. And I started my career in a call centre and that was in 2006. First of all, I joined Tata Tele Services in the Retention Department and I worked around 6 months. Then after that, I worked in a call centre in Kolkata in HSVC. 

Then in Bombay, I worked at 'Marks and Spencer' money for 2 years. I have also worked as an HR, approximately 1 year. There was a consultancy in Jamshedpur "Mofai ran stake". I have set up a call centre in Jamshedpur. I have a big role in that. Bringing everything, doing arrangements, I have also organised events. This is a journey before doing radio jockeying. It was my journey of some 4-5 years, in which I did all this.


2. Why did you choose RJing as a career and what were the first steps you took?

So I didn't choose RJing as a career, basically, it was accidental. I was talking to one of my friends Late night and then she said boss "Mihara Nawaz about acha hai, tu RJ ban". I'm like what... What is RJ, I don't know anything about it. During the holidays I used to go to my brother's place in Bombay and Delhi and I used to listen to the radio. Never knew that people who speak on the radio are called RJ. 

So he gave me all the details, then I went to a radio station in Jamshedpur 92.7 Big FM. And this is a matter of 2009, at that time there was no Google and all that kind of things. Got an address from somewhere in "Shakti". 

There I said that I came from Bombay, want to become an RJ, I asked them how I can apply. Then they told me to give a resume, then we will think about it. Then they told me to come once or twice and check what RJ does. They called me a year later, my interview lasted 3 months, Whenever someone came in those 3 months, they used to call me to take my interview. It took me a long time to come into the field of RJ. 

But when I came, after that I never left 92.7 Big FM and went to another radio station. This was my first step. I did not know anything, neither I did Mass. Com., nor did I know the RJ. I just knew how to speak, and I can talk well. So that's probably why it was my first step to find everything by myself. Went, applied, waited. It was in my destiny, so I became an RJ.


3. Please tell us about your experience with '92.7 Big FM'.

92.7 Big FM has given me my identity and the experience is awesome. I really love the company. Their strategy is very different from other companies. Their approach is very different. They understand you, what you are. They focus more on local connect. I still remember, Right now I am talking about the one who has not connected anymore with us in Big FM, But whatever I have learned, I learned from them only... 

There are two people, First one is my boss Shadab Hashmi and another is Tarun Katyal Sir, who was the head. Tarun Katyal Sir's version was to make radio a local connect. Meaning everything should be locally connected. And the same thing with my boss, who is still my boss, Umar Shadab Hashmi, he also had the same focus that everything should be locally connected. How locally connected you are is important. 

As much as your show is locally connected, Local people are connected to you, you are reaching them, you are taking them on the radio, so your show becomes more popular. So I have experienced that whatever you are is local. So you are not a national Star, you are a Local Star, You have to focus locally. And 92.7 Big FM supported me every time and stood by me at every point, They accept you, respect you and understand your point, that's a big deal.


4. Tell us more about your show "Big Chai".

So my show "Big Chai" is basically a very locally generated show. We usually do 4 hours show but sometimes we do 3 hours due to occasional timings. So if I talk about the 4-hour show, then each hour has different slots. So in one hour slot, we generally talk about temperature, weather, Vegetable prices, and talk about what's happening locally. 

One hour is just about local news and talks about what different is happening, where you can approach. It can be anything educational or international news or local news. After that for 1 hour, we try that we can give you some fresh news related to Bollywood. 

It has the slot 'Big Chai' which is the main content of the show, we carry a topic in it. And we talk on that topic every day or the whole week and that is the topic on the Vibe of the City, like some special day which is very important for our city, so we can raise any question related to it, then we talk about it. 

For example - If we are talking on World Heart Day, then we can talk for 2-3 days on World Heart Day. We can talk about heart-related diseases, how it can be prevented. So we can bring local doctors on our show. Then if there's some awesome theme, so we talk about that theme. So "Big Chai"is basically a local show, locally Connected. And the songs are retro and 90's songs.


5. Which is your favourite book and why?

So My favourite book is "Revolution 2020". I know reading Chetan Bhagat is cliché from an Indian point of view because people do not consider Chetan Bhagat as a writer. But according to me, anyone who can speak and can write a story is a writer. Now everyone has their own perspective. 

I can not change their perception but "Revolution 2020" was my first book because I'm not a book reader. It took me 4 - 5 months to finish it. This is a very big thing because people finish books in 1-2 days, or in a week, but it took me 3-4 months Because I was trying to understand that book after reading. 

I was trying to live in the story. I always dreamt of becoming a writer kind of thing, I make very good stories in my mind because I have made many excuses in my life. Cooking stories is my habit. A lot of stories have been made in Revolution 2020, it was quite spicy in a way. I felt somewhere, that if this type of story were realistic, what would it be like? So that's why I liked this book very much.

Interviewed by - Ashwarya Jha