“I was only trying my luck when I registered myself for an announcer audition with All India Radio. It wasn’t a planned move, but I wanted to try something different after I quit my job at the National Institute for Mentally Handicapped. I never thought the audition would bring me so far in life and make me who I am today. It was a completely new field for me. Unlike today, things weren’t digitalised then. It was 2004-05 that I had joined AIR and it was heartwarming to find many women announcers in the team. I had to learn everything from scratch – managing the mic, computer, media player and of course, the right timing. We used to work on CDs and cassettes in a manual console set-up. Everything had to be done by the RJ herself and that required creativity. They were all live shows! So if a show went on without any mistakes, it was a big celebration for us. With a couple of my colleagues at work, I did a satire show on topics like Telugu serials. Fortunately, we had a wonderful team with supportive coworkers. We had each others’ back and we were all very protected. AIR has always been known for being an amalgamation of modernity, heritage and culture. It was a brand that we were representing and that came with responsibility. I later worked with private radio channels where everything was digital and that was another learning experience. Those were the days! Although I went on to do comedy shows and a couple of short films, radio will always have a special place in my heart.”

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