MAKING WAVES

A Bangalore college scales the airwaves with its own campus radio run by student RJs. India Today's Stephen David tunes in.

When final year B.Sc student of applied genetics Nikhil is not on chromosome microdissection or a cell characterisation assignment after his classhours, he heads straight to the glass-cased studio at the sprawling Garden City College campus in Krishnarajapuram, north of Bangalore. Here, Nikhil will don his headsets and talk to his 5,000-strong fellow Gardenians spread around several buildings and blocks in this mini-UN type campus that has students from around 40 countries. Nikhil plays Jaggu as he dons the part-time role of a radio jockey [RJ] at the unique campus radio inaugurated at the college early this year.

The campus radio -- complete with digial audio consoles, mic with booms and terminator and distribution amplifiers like the ones you will find in a small broadcast station -- was an idea born in the mind of GCC chairman Joseph VG on one of his visits to the US. "I saw a similar idea on one of the American campuses where students were connecting with their colleagues via campus radio and it was a great platform to share good ideas and spread information," says Joseph.

Joseph, who spent more than Rs 30 lakh on equipments and refurbishing a room to house the machinery, adds students will showcase their talent as RJs, imbibe work ethics, educate, entertain and unwind after a day's hard grind on the campus.

After a week's training from a professional RJ, most college students like Nikhil or his biotech classmate Shailaja Samant just grabbed the opportunity to play RJs. "All that we had was the desire to do something unique on our own," says RJ Shailaja, the wake-up girl on campus who hosts the first show of the day Rise and Shine at 7am. Right from playing hits on request to doing special numbers for those celebrating birthdays, Campus Radio 99.9% as the concept is called, has been a hit with the college.

Other interesting titles are Simply Break Maadi, Lime Juice and the last show of the day Night Fire which features western track, rock, hip-hop and much more... Lime Juice, for example, is a hilarious show featuring oldies and latest hits interspersed with dialogues looking at the funny side of people in everyday life. RJs do mimicry, imitate some comedians and generally keep the day packed. There are no commercial breaks so there is continuity.

Bombaat Masti gives you latest Bollywood happenings and Simply Break Maadi is the show for greenhorns: students just walk into the studio, put their headphones on and talk before the mic in this show. Almost everybody interested gets a chance -- students are not allowed to host a show for more than two weeks on the trot. They have to take a break and come back...

"Most of the time we play movie songs, interviews with visitors and make general announcements," says Shabana, from the Middle East, who says she felt liberated and learnt a lot about life after donning the RJ cap.
"Few women can go public with a job like an RJ in our part of the world and it is a great experience here," she says.

Whether you are a student of biotechnology, catering or physics, you end up becoming a n RJ here as the college ensures there are at least 10 RJs on work everyday. Work is hectic whenever the college hosts intercollegiate functions and competitions which happen atleast every quarter. Everybody gets an update instantly.

The students themselves conceptualise and manage the shows daily. The "radio" can be heard throughout the 30-acre campus, including 13 college hostels nearby, all piped into various rooms. It is not broadcast medium in the conventional sense but Campus Radio has its own well-equipped studio with electronic equipment to mix music. With interactive elements and peppy chant you cannot tell it apart from a regular channel.

Prof RN Sreenivasa Gowda, the first vice-chancellor of the autonomous Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, was a guest speaker at a major college function last month. Immediately after that he was escorted to the studio and interviewed live on the Campus Radio for 20 minutes. "It was great that almost all of them heard some of the thoughts I shared with these young students, it is a great idea which has to be replicated everywhere," says Gowda.

Joseph agress. "No idea is copyrighted here, we want this concept to be spread far and wide," he says.

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