Hyderabad:
Sophisticated equipment, cool microphones and headphones, soundproof cabins and the trademark eye-catching ‘On air’ signs left the young participants of the Radio Mirchi studio visit fascinated. The event, a part of TOI’s Hyderabad for Kids campaign, was held on Tuesday at the Radio Mirchi office in Begumpet. It gave 75 kids the rare opportunity to step inside a radio station office and witness its inner workings.
From five-year-olds to 18-year-olds, the participants were so eager to see the studio and meet the radio jockeys and professionals that many of them turned up before time at the venue. After the names of all the participants were registered, they were divided into four batches and taken into the studios one batch at a time. Once inside, the kids couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed in amazement at all the studio equipment and the heavy soundproof doors as their guide B Bharathi, a radio jockey (RJ), explained them about what exactly happens there. They were first taken into the live studio from where all the live shows were aired. The participants’ excitement levels soared when they realised that they were actually walking into the studio while a show was being aired. RJ Dheeraja, who was in the middle of her show, welcomed the kids into the studio when a song was being played.
They were shown the screen on which the detailed log of songs, advertisements and jock talk, i.e. when the RJ speaks, was displayed, the switches that control the volume, the phone used to take listeners’ calls and the signature headphones worn by the RJ. Kids were even allowed to stay in the studio while the RJ went live on air and took a couple of calls from listeners. Many captured the RJ speaking into the microphone live on their phone cameras, vowing to show it to their friends back home.
The group was then shown the back-up studio wherein all the recorded shows and segments were recorded and edited. They even took turns saying a couple of lines into the mike, including the popular tagline of the station. Just when they thought they had seen it all, the participants interacted with R Kiran Kumar, a sound engineer and the man behind the popular comic character named ‘Breaking news Baburao’ and Yashwanth Nag, music composer of the Telugu film Neeku Naaku Dash Dash.
Talking about his experience at the event, eight-year-old Vedant A said, “I was so excited when I came to know that I will get to visit a radio station. The entire experience was mind blowing. I will boast about this to all my friends and tell my teacher too about it.” The RJs also said they had a great time with the enthusiastic children. B Bharathi said, “It’s nice as the young kids were so enthusiastic to know about the functioning of a radio station. Many of them had very microphone-friendly voices and a distinct style. I cleared their misconceptions about a radio station having only RJs and told them about the various career opportunities here. Such events give them a good exposure to these fields; it is a great initiative.”
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Hyderabad> Collections / TNN, May 30th, 2012