MUMBAI: Different music, tweaked programming and sobered down RJ talk marked Mumbai’s FM airwaves for three days after the first terror attacks hit Mumbai.
Stranded staff, affected families and other problems were swept aside as stations rallied to offer a voice of reason to a disturbed city. While some like Radio One’s programming head Malini were at the Trident in Mumbai when the attack happened, other RJs, like Mirchi’s Jeeturaaj stayed put on air for a marathon session, updating listeners.
Most stations, that play chartbusters round the clock, played softer, sober tracks, and many opened their phone lines to callers, ranging from the stranded to the curious. Mirchi’s RJ Jeeturaaj was on air for over 12 hours continuously for the three days. He told Radioandmusic.com, I never felt more responsible as an RJ before. I have been interacting with the listeners for 12 hours a day co-hosting the show with other RJs….
Related Post
Radio also became a platform for listeners to express their anguish about the issue. Jeeturaaj’s blog on Radio Mirchi’s official website put out important emergency numbers of ambulances and hospitals throughout the city. Jeeturaaj, who spent Monday on the field, visiting the attack sites, says he is furious about the vote bank politics played by the political parties who are paying lip service to soldiers and officers who lost their lives, just to garner votes. Tomorrow I am going to rip the political parties on air for their cheap politics and I am sure the listeners would be willing to share their anguish with us….
The mood at Red FM too was mellow, with its playlist playing some original compositions. The station played tracks composed by a Bhojpuri composer for the terror acts sung by Sunidhi Chauhan and Vasundhara. Says Red FM’s RJ Malishka, It is easy to portray hatred on radio by asking to tear posters of politician paying homage but it is important at these times not to mislead the listeners and to behave apolitically….
Mumbai mayor Shuba Raul came on Red FM, giving listeners the opportunity to express their opinions. Also, the RJs went on air from OB vans talking to people who saw the terrorists entering the city with weapons and how the police had turned a deaf ear to their pleas.
At Radio City, RJ Vicky was present at CST and witnessed the harsh reality himself. He recollects, When I saw what was happening, I immediately called up Manish Vallicha hosting the 9-11 pm show, â€?City city bang bang’ and informed our listeners about the tragic incident…. RJ Praaveen who hosts the show, â€?Jagte raho’ from 1 am to 5 am went on air from midnight co-hosting the show, â€?Love guru’ and remained on air for 10 hours at a stretch providing listeners with the latest happenings.
According to Radio One’s Malini, “After the news broke, everybody was already at home. The next day however, the employees returned to work in spite of the emergency situation. We decided the content would be free of any irrelevant things at that moment. We played soothing music, and constantly updated people on the current situation and various helpline numbers so that they didn’t have to wait for long. There were many who wanted to help but just didn’t knew where and how to do it, so radio proved to be e very good medium”
At Radio City, the station was flooded with panicked callers who wanted to know the latest on the situation. As the networks were jammed, there were the people who were stuck called the radio station to inform their near and dear ones about their safety. Also, Radio city brought some eye witnesses on air who were too shaken to express their aguish apart from the youngsters who raised their voices against the terror attacks and media journalists reporting live from the terror striken areas.
Throughout Thursday and Friday, Radio city RJs Harsh, Vicky and Praveen were providing updates and calming the listeners on air.
Radio One has now decided to take the lead by starting ‘Action Fatafat’ and ‘One Spirit, One Mumbai’
Says Malini, ‘Action Fatafat’ will keep a tab on what the politicians say in the press conferences and note down the agenda’s that Politian’s talk about. The idea is to keep reminding the politicians and the Government of their promises until they fulfill them. In sum, we will be acting as a media watch dog…
‘One Spirit, One Mumbai’ is a city house plan. It will give emotional support to those who have gone through a traumatic experience post terror attack, inform citizens about blood donation camps, and also encourage them to refrain from any kind of instigated violence. Basically ask them not to give-in to terror… She added.
The initiative will culminate in the peace rally at the Gateway of India on 3 December at 6 pm. This programme will run throughout the day, on December we would join hands with others present in the â€?Enough is Enough’ peace rally… She said.
