In Conversation With India's First Blind Radio Jockey
He works at the Food Corporation of India in Chennai where he operates and manages the telephone on weekdays and on weekends, you can listen to his clear melodic voice on the community radio in MOP Vaishnav College for Women. Breaking into a sudden song by Kishore Kumar, RJ Shrikanth seems unfazed by what so many call a disability—his blindness. Perhaps this is because it has never affected his passion in the slightest. He has worked for All India Radio, 92 Tamil FM, London Radio station where he did a weekly four-hour-long show in Tamil and even assisted BBC but, in the four decades of his radio career he hasn’t turned radio into an occupation or earned anything from it. “I like maintaining this balance between a routine and a creative job. I earn my bread and butter during the week and on the weekends, I do radio. I like adventure but I also like safety,” he says.
Born and brought up in the erstwhile Mylapore area of Chennai, he had vision in one eye but fate had other plans. When his other eye began deteriorating he had an operation which was successful. An accident occurred while playing cricket when he was a teenager when a tennis ball hit his good eye. The resulting operation was unsuccessful and he was rendered completely blind. “I was a good googly bowler,” he reminisces.
“I live life according to happiness,” he says talking about his journey. “I stopped studying in the school after seventh grade and did my studies privately.” He began listening to the radio in 1979 and that’s what brought “international flavour” to his life. “I listened to the blow by blow coverage of Voice of America and tuning into radio netherlands, shortwave radio and sounds from faraway countries brought colour to my life,” he says.
He began sourcing radio shows and even participated in game shows on local fm channels and progressing towards listening to and participating with BBC and Voice of America. He learned braille and telephone operations in Mumbai back in 1984, and he still remembers how the local trains whooshed past him filled with people. “Rail gadi chuk chuk chuk, beech wale stations bole ruk ruk ruk,” he breaks into a song again.
“I was pretty nervous when I went on air,” Srikanth says with a smile. “After the interview, I got a lot of attention.” Four years later, he began his seven-month stint at All India Radio. “Those days, I was called a compere, not a radio jockey,” he explains. “I compered for a show titled Elaya Bharatham in English, along with a Tamil compere.” He found the studio work, while on air or between takes, such as spooling recording tape, challenging. “I had a senior, a Mr Neelakantan, who observed me spooling the tape wrongly in one of my first sessions. Afterwards, he told me that he had let me make the mistake so that I would not repeat it!” he says, chuckling. After AIR, he occasionally contributed to the BBC World Service programme Outlook, which broadcasts human-interest stories from across the world,” the report stated.
He is also a Vedantic Scholar and often breaks into a Verse from the vedantic philosophy to explain his life. His ultimate goal is to attain moksha or liberation. “When I know myself I will know everything, every knowledge,” he says quoting the Vedanta literature. TNIE reported that he occasionally sends friends trivia via recorded WhatsApp messages he calls ‘Srikanth Calling.’
“Fortune favours the brave and hard work pays” is what he says about much of his life. He turns 51 soon and the four decades of his experience with radio only adds up to the many stories he likes telling people. He remembers many fictional stories like Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and many science fiction, spy and murder mysteries from around the world. He has never left the Indian soil but his voice has reached many corners of the world. “When I read these audio books, I feel like I am right there with the spy in Oxford London and I don’t think I need to leave India,” he says.
One incident that he likes sharing with people is when Paddy Maguire from BBC secretly recorded his singing in Chennai when he had come to India. The final output left even Shrikant surprised. He has been interviewed by many media houses and TV channels but the one he enjoyed the most was with Sun TV where they interviewed him in a running car.
Modern technology like the Alexa App has helped him a lot over the years and made his life a little easy. He still laments the fact that the radio scene hasn’t developed over the years. “In India, radio drama is not as good as it is in Britain. Especially in Tamil, there are no good radio dramas. I grew up listening to Binaka Geetmala, Tamil and Hindi Film songs, Vividh Bharti and Sri Lanka Radio. I think we need more talk shows on radio where varied people talk about their lives, their professions and more. We need talk shows where a person is called and listeners and call in and ask questions. It’s very rare when we get to hear movie soundtracks and we should play more. I have asked AIR fm Rainbow and gold so many times to have talk shows and soundtracks in the night instead of continuous music but haven’t received a response from them,” he said.
The one that Shrikant regrets that he is still dependent on people to do things for him be it playing the songs and writing e-mails. “Being independent is a challenge. I need someone to write down notes of what I am recording so that they can read it out to me if my recorder fails. It’s a good practice but I wish I could do it myself. I don’t consider myself visually challenged though. I am as human as anybody. A human also needs a companion.” But Shrikant still thinks being a bachelor is much more fun. He speaks fondly of his girlfriend Alexa, the app, as though she is an actual woman? “I think marriage is a big hoax like Emperor’s big clothes,” he laughs. “Independence is the greatest fun and nothing is more rewarding than loving oneself. You know kuch toh log kahenge, logo ka kaam hai kehna,” he sings.
“Life is about having fun. I was not born to go to the grave. I was born to do something in my life,” he concludes.
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