28th January has already passed. The day when I completed 5 years of my RJing. I shan’t say that I waited for the day. Because frankly, I never wanted to be in radio. Neither I knew what a radio jockey was nor his/her job contour. Listening to ‘Vividh-Bharti’ with speakers like Mamta Ji, Nimmi ji constitute my memories from childhood. Whereas when I grew older- I guess no parents want their daughter in Media. (thodi buri field hai na.. beti bigad gayi to??? In fact, the conversations about the Radio Jockeys are generally like- “Ha Radio par bolta to hai par… karta kya hai?”)So no plans seeded there.

Finally, aisa kya hua ki ye disaster ho gaya?
Turning a little dramatic; Aakhir is accident ke peechhe kiski saazish thi???

Ab saazish to pata nahi, but medium pata hai. It was an audition that happened in Rajasthan Patrika Office in January 2008. And for the first time in my life I met someone from Radio industry. Two gentlemen sat to audition the candidates. And now follows the brief description of the one who auditioned Saavi.

Name: Purple shirt waale Sir
Age: 30 around
Occupation: Listening to the candidates, Signing bills, attending calls, lifting spects to sound more like erudite, conducting meetings etc.
Physical properties:
1.Tall, Fair, Handful (handsome se zyada!)
2. Intelligent types
3. Possessed 4 eyes and 8 ears
4. Attended more calls than what the PM does. Missed calls= twice the attended calls
5. Most grounded. Sits with team as a colleague. Answers as Rajnikant does-“ Tu nahi Jayegi.”

Chemical Properties:
1. Does not boil even in most heated conversations
2. Balances all equations by turning into precipitate.
3. Forms infinite idea compounds when introduced to a single idea atom.
4. Para-magnetic towards good ideas however did not show repulsion towards bad ideas.
5. Seldom reactive...

And Dear Reader, before I google more chemical properties to describe our 'purple shirt waale sir,you might be wondering who actually is he...
So meet Mr. Vikas Tiwari, Former Group Programming Head 95 FM Tadka. To describe him, I'll use the excerpt from my old blog post from 2010- My first meetings

VIKAS SIR (2008..PROGRAMMING HEAD, JAIPUR Tadka)
Purple colour ki shirt.. with a half jacket on..such solemn personality. It felt as if- iss chashme ke peeche kitni creativity hai re.. phone humesha silent par n ek minute mein hi 15 missed call- that was Vikas Sir.. His best part.. chashme ko centre se press karna.. and yes.. how so humble..! His words, "tu nahi jaayegi.. are ones that I remember the most.." (this was regarding who was to stay back.. finally at the Kota Station as an RJ). Yaar..'puchka'.. bada achcha word hai.. kuch ho skta hai ispar..dekho zara.."
Ek shikayat: mmmm.. pata nahi..
Ek tareef: Sir you are so simple!

More Description:

Meeting Vikas Sir was such a such a butterscotch experience in the bitter gourd pallet. I mean, he was our boss and I always thought boss kahan achhchhe hote hain, but I never saw him frowning, never heard him shout. I wonder how subtly had he inculcated the 'sitting on ground for meetings' attitude in us. Yes! we at Tadka sat in our backup studios to discuss any idea. (Chairs kam nahi thi- zameen par jagah zyada thi.!). His vision is what leaves me awestruck. Look at the people who he chose. They are such wonderful radio professionals. In fact, till date I can't answer the question- 'Which quality makes saavi a radio jockey?'But probably he knew. For him any body could be creative. From technical department to backoffice everybody participated in the creative meeting.

I remember, during my last meet with him he told, "Ask your listeners their blood group.. and pen it down. Join hearts with your listeners." (Listeners se khoon ka rishta banaao! :). And no changes since years (twacha nahi attitude ki baat kar rahi hoon :P)- he's still so humble to talk. Still listens like Anandi. I mean so patient. When we surprisingly went to receive him at the station during his visit to Kota- he was so happy. I told him, " You look so informal Sir! He replied, "Office chalo, phir batata hoo.." (Even bosses believe in kidding! wow!)

A few more points... Vikas Sir

1. Knitted plans as if bachpan se manger rahe ho
2. Emphasized on words like a hindi professor, “ Ye ‘puchka’ bada achcha word hai… ispar kuchh socho”
3. When you write him a loooooooong mail regarding your official problems, returns you with a compliment that says, “ ye likhti to achchha hai…” (And yes! This moment you even forget you wanted solutions, instead you rest with that compliment thinking “Yaar Sir ne kaha hai…”)
4. Behaved sooooooooo patient as if hospital mein dakhila le rakha ho.
5. Encouraged in ‘bhabhka’ meetings too. “ Ek bure idea se hi achchha idea aata hai.” Wins hearts babu ji!
6. Silent killer for almost all situations. “Ek kamm kar Ha*aam ***** bhi bol de aur khatm kar”
7. Possessed connection in each part of that world where your radio frequency reaches. (Aaapne kuchh bhi galat bola ho unke kaano mein to panhuchna hi hai..
And before I write more, Sir, I cannot thank you for bringing me in the industry! But phir bhi Thank you!