Radio tune kar lo aye zara!!!

Indian Link Radio’s Creative Director NEELAM VASUDEVAN with updates on what’s been happening at Australia’s favourite Hindi station

BY NEELAM VASUDEVAN

While sunshine kissed the Melbourne and Sydney skies and said Sooraj ki baahon mein aa jao, we shone on the radio frequency too!!!

Anna Hazare, Independence Day, Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami, Shammi Kapoor,

India’s visiting AFL team, interviews with the stars of new film Aarakshan, and the very latest in music (Bodyguard, Mere Brother ki Dulhan and Chillar Party) – the radio has been abuzz this month!

SHRADDHA ARJUN on SubahSubah

Shraddha greets you on your weekday mornings with her chirpy and never-ending helooooos.

Setting the mood for devotional music and spirituality, listeners have been treated to halke halke discussions on the same. Recently Shraddha sparked off a debate on what happiness and contentment really mean. Standing out with their thoughts were our very own Jyotiji, Asha Trivedi and Ruchika Mangla. Mid mornings with lifestyle topics like recipes, books, travel,

SAGAR MEHROTRA on Subah Subah

7-9am (Thurs-Fri)

Another morning jaadugar who rises at the crack of dawn to shake you from your morning slumber, is Sagar, who has been riding high on the popularity charts. Want to try calling him on our studio line? You will be reminded of this familiar message – Aap ki call katar mein hain!!! But do you know Sagar absolutely loves it, so don’t stop calling. Getting a bit nostalgic on Rakshabandhan day, listeners felicitated their bhaiyas and behnas. Listener Priya was unable to contain her emotions…

Tune in to Indian Link Radio 24/7 worldwide on the web www.indianlink.com.au or subscribe in Sydney and Melbourne for $9.95 per month. and technology and of course Star Yaar Kalaakar (quiz show) –there was music and lots of masti galore.

Evenings with Shraddha this month saw an Antaakshari buildup with listeners belting out their songs …Aparna, Sanjay, Gargi, Zoya, thanks for making Sunday ki shaam more rangeen with your dildaar voices!

In a new move, watch out for Shraddha on Sunday evenings…

Sagar says, “I love to pose endless questions and revive the good old days and memories. One morning we asked, do you remember your first day on the job? Caller Krishna Kumar Yadav ji talked all of us back to the ‘60s…”. Janamasthmi was welcomed in style on the morning show with special thanks to Pandit Shri Jatin Kumar Bhatt of Shri Mandir, Auburn. His talk about the significance of rebirth of Krishna in our homes every year was most meaningful!! Thank you for your blessings, Panditji. Bhakti sangeet mixed with dhamaal songs, Sagar sure knows how to rock the mornings!

RASHMI CHAUDHARY on Meter Down 5-9pm (Tue & Thur)

Come 5pm on Mondays and Fridays and the studio gets Chatte Batte with our very own mast host and dost Rashmi. Lifestyle, travel and tech, health and beauty and the ad-mad world, all interest our chulbuli Rashmi!

Rashmi had a heart-to-heart this fortnight with Deepika Padukone just before the release of the much-talked about Aarakshan. And what was it like working with Prakash Jha? “He can be a very hard taskmaster, but he brought out the best in me in this film”. Manoj Bajpai spoke to Rashmi of meticulous preparation for

MANOJ MENON on Meter Down

5-9pm (Wed) all his roles, going deep into his character. The well-spoken Manoj impressed Rashmi and the listeners alike with his passion for his work. With no arrogance or flamboyance in his tone, he said dil se, “Mann aur imaandari se kaam karta hoon - acting is all I know”.

Lagaata woh tie-shie, hai very hi-fi, aur karta hai aapka bheja fry! Manoj makes sure your Wednesday evenings just get better as he takes to the mic.

With a great style of presentation, and a smooth-as-honey voice, (My dil certainly goes mmmmm!) Manoj moves across music of all genres effortlessly. In his show Kashish he churns out sher o shayari, ghazals and superhit naghme as you settle in after your day’s work.

And with Aarakshan fever on the radio, Manoj not only ‘reserved’ a Prakash Jha special but also an Amitabh Bachchan special!

Hasti khelti Rashmi also brought in a fun feel to auspicious Janmashtami. Jo hai albela madnaino waala, rangeela, chail chabeela, natkhat, jamunatat, murli bajaye - I lost count of the number of listeners who called in and shared their views on what the word ‘Krishna’ means. It was such a delight that radio par bhi gopiyon ke sang raas rachaaya, shyam salone ne! Fantastic listening.

Get set for Rashmi to bring you mid mornings on Wednesdays as well: let’s see what she has in store for us on The Lifestyle Show

PRIYANKA TATER on Meter Down

5-9pm (Tue & Thur)

Haan haan Meter Down toh kar hi lijiye kyunki here is the spunky and multi-talented Priyanka with her own inimitable style, setting your radio on fire in the evenings! You can be sure of masti as well as serious discussions with Priyanka. Priyanka spoke this month, among others, with Ingrid Just of Choice magazine about comparison websites to look at while booking your flights; Vishal Gupta of Concept Tree Consulting who helped organise a ‘property fair’ bringing in some of the best known property developers in India to woo the diaspora here; com, who is trying to promote AFL in India; and Chakraborty recently.

Tuesdays have come alive with a special segment of Priyanka’s India Now, a discussion on the changes that India has been going through. Priyanka’s popular Lights Camera and Action show focused on patriotic films to mark Independence Day. Also, with a special show on Shammi Kapoor, Priyanka captured the very first real film star of Bollywood.

PRIYANKA RAO

Sat 9am – 12 pm

Saturday mornings bring on air the surili Priyanka as she takes you through the very latest tracks, with plenty of gupshup thrown in - with a dekkho on the events gone by in Australia and India Hafta Bhar; the Top 10 of just about everything you can think of, entertainment news and box office round-up of new releases. Priyanka is definitely a bright spot on our Saturday mornings!

ANUP KUMAR 12- 4pm (Sat)

Kuch luv jaisa is in the air when the golden voice of the radio starts off at midday on Saturdays. We’re talking about our love guru Anup who brings a wealth of music on his shows. One of our oldest anchors, Anup knows exactly what you want, and delivers!

August month brought much to talk about, with Raakhi, Janmashtmi, Ramadan, India’s Independence Day. Listeners shared with Anup their favourite songs based on all of these. Callers vied for giveaway tickets for films Singham and Aarakshan

A special show recently on the unforgettable Mohd Rafi was a fantastic success for Anup. “If there are 101 ways of saying ‘I love you’ in a song, Mohammed Rafi knew them all”. And you can bet Anup knows them too. Thanks to Deepti (Wentworthville), Harmindar (Campsie), Gargiji and Mrs S Kler (Sydney) for their valuable comments – especially Jyoti from Croydon (her radio is on 24/7!) who recommended Rafi songs in Telugu, which Anup managed to play for her!

Another voice of yesteryear Mukesh, whose death anniversary went by on 27 Aug, was also celebrated this month. (Anup’s all time favourite, btw, is Mukesh’s unforgettable Kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai…)

RACHITA SAINI

9am -12pm (Sun)

Great music, bindaas attitude and non-stop banter - it’s all you need from the Karma Queen Rachita who certainly makes your Sunday mornings shine bright even if there is no sunshine! Having had a special on the Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan pairing on her show, listeners did concede that there would be plenty of chemistry in Aarakshan. A discussion on

Anna Hazare the face of India’s fight against corruption was another success. The feeling of patriotism and the support our listeners showed on air was overwhelming. I thank all our listeners who take the trouble to call in and show so much love and affection towards my team. It is you who make the radio happen!

Non Stop Music

A bit about my part in Indian Link Radio – lining up your music! Bhakti sangeet ho ya retro mix, ghazal ho ya mast mix, the latest ho ya Café Mix, hits of ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and now…it’s all playing for you on the radio. Chaubeeson ghante saaton din – Mast!

That’s my line and I do know that I am matching your moods and favourites every hour on the hour, and you love it all!

“I just had to let you know I really enjoy your selection of ghazals. You do a remarkable job of whatever you do. Thanks Neelam,” Jaya from Sydney wrote recently.

The littlest fan of my work is Ishaan Patel from Melbourne who is just two years old. Now I have to tell you what I have seen in person. Getting back home the first thing he does is point to the radio and says “Music, Mummy”, demanding that it be turned on. I did believe this when he did the same at my

UZMA BEG on Morning Masala with Uzma 10am-1pm (Mon-Tue-Thurs)

It was a warm welcome back to the supremely lovable - but totally crazy - morning anchor Uzma Beg, who was missed much by the Indian Link Radio family. Back after her month-long holiday in Europe (hobnobbing with the stars?), the chatterbox-extraordinaire got straight into the act. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder - I missed all my callers!”

With a unique ability to make all the callers feel they are the only ones she is talking to, Uzma had them opening their hearts again, such as with a recent discussion on being duped by scams. “My heart went out to poor Luxmi who got swindled by a babaji in Sydney… and to Saloni who was saved in the nick of time by her hubby from a scam that would’ve rendered her thousands of dollars in the negative!” place too!!! His favourite song right now? Jalebi Bai. Great going Ishaan I love to see your face light up on listening to Indian Link!

Treat yourself to relaxing music all afternoon with the very latest 3@3pm. (Last fortnight we played I Love you from Bodyguard, Rabba Main Toh Mar gaya from Mausam, and your No1 song based on listeners’ requests is Acha Lagta Hai from Aarakshan). Followed by Mast Mix everyday Mon - Sat 4pm to 5pm you can be assured of uplifting music to beat the evening blues away. 10pm onwards Saari Saari Raat promises to take you on a journey that is filled with melody of different genres all the way up to 5am next day.

So how can you be a part of it all? Just subscribe to the radio. With a radio set in your home or business or a car decoder to keep you entertained in the peak hours…the choice is yours.

Toh Indian Link Radio bajne do zara…faltu attitude de de tu zara!

But her own favourite morning on radio recently was during the discussion on parental authority. “Being a parent myself I’ve researched this topic to death and thought my listeners would benefit from it just as I have. Callers had so much to add that I’ve promised to repeat it early next yearwhen all the festivities are over and it’s time to exercise some parental control!”

And of course what would Uzma’s show be without some mindless fun that has us all so wrapped up we forget our morning chores? It was a fun-filled romp as she got us to translate muhawaras in English. How would you say “Kab nau mann tail hoga, kab Radha nachaygee” in English? Manzar did it for us: “When will there be 9 mann oil so Radha will dance?” Lol... see? You can have fun too... just pick up that phone and call Uzma on Monday, Tuesday & Thursday between 10am & 1pm and you can have yourselves a real party. Ye masti hai truly sasti!