radio with a difference !!!!!

My first memory of a radio is of the one which my dad assembled for us siblings way back in the 70’s. My love for the radio started with that radio which had open valves that used to turn green on heating. The reception on that self assembled radio was very good and I grew up listening to Radio Ceylon and the BBC . In the  days before the television revolution started in India the radio was our window to the world, be it news or entertainment. We had our favourite programs and were ruled by their timings. Slowly the media became audio visual and the radio lost it’s significance in many house holds. It is still important to many though like truck drivers and farmers in many rural parts of the world are still dependent on the radio for information. It is also used by governments to impart information about vital issues like vaccination, educational issues, medical camps, natural calamities etc.
After growing up and moving away from home too my association with the radio continued and I was a regular listener. It also helped me in the profession I tookup in life of being a lecturer. The commercials aired on the radio helped me in getting examples while preparing for lectures, and the music was a balm for my heart that was missing my friends and family back home. After getting married I moved around quite a bit in India and my radio moved with me, then came the time when I had to take a big decision to move away from my home country to Bahrain a small nation I knew very little about. As usual the first thing I did was to buy a radio. Intially the radio was my connect to the world viz through the news, views and other snippets of information I got on it.
There are two main stations I liked listening to in Bahrain and they are radio Bahrain and 104.2 Your Fm. I was a regular listerner of both the radio stations  from my very first day in Bahrain. The hindi radio channel was called Radio Voice. In a few days I realised that the channel was closing down and was turning over a new leaf but what overwhelmed me was the reaction of the listerners. It was an eye opener for me because I had never seen so much of love and hurt from the listerners for a radio channel.  The channel thanked all it’s listerners and also aired interviews with their back end team, and I think that is what got me hooked to this channel. Soon I too was a regular listener and my elder son too started participating in the contests they aired and he had a favourite RJ who he used to listen to everyday. The radio also morphed and became an excellent nanny for me because I knew I could take my nap during the time Paras Tomar was on air. With 104.2 your fm they had a chat line simultaneously open on FaceBook, this makes it possible for the listeners to tune in and interact with the radio jockeys when programms are being aired. This makes this media extremely interactive and establishes a direct connection with the people. It is then that I realised the importance of this media for the people living far away from home.

The listeners are from various backgrounds and social strata making the interactions with this radio channel page on face book extremely interesting.  For the first time I saw a radio channel being a friend, philosopher, guide, big brother who pulls people up and above all an entertainer par example. I also saw bonding of people from Pakistan and India and it really was so very heartening to see this because it shows one the power of music and the calming effect it has. The interviews and special programms aired on special days such as the Independence day of Pakistan and India, the celebration of festivals such as Ramadan and Onam, too come with a special message for each category of listeners.
This GCC area has so many individuals who live away from home and do not have any family to speak of, some are in some form of bondage and some have lost their jobs or some are even in jail. The message on Onam (an Indian festival) from 104.2 your fm, went out to all these people as there were interviews with politicians and also actors from India who demystified a lot of myths about issues expats have and many a times does not get answered for they do not know whom to ask. Besides this all the regular things a radio channel does is done by both the channels.

In hindsight I realise that the radio used to be on at all times in my house in India but when we are in a new place with few know faces it can work wonders for most people, as their beacon of hope and their window to the world. It can also become more than that with the people on the channel interacting and few like minded people from the 104.2 your fm page, who have also formed their own online groups and have taken this social networking to a different level altogether. In the end it is all about people finding their balance and getting on in life specially in a place with no family and friends.