Sushma renews the 104.2 By Meera Ravi connection
Home-grown
This time round, there is a significant change in the station’s persona – it is totally rooted in the heart of the community, with all homegrown RJs, who bring their own brand and community presence into the studio. Whether it’s the bubbly Aishwarya, the party-bird Paresh, romantic Muskaan or Jiju’s rich baritone filling airwaves and the fan following brought by Kashish, Noor, Badri and Shibu, the team is hand-picked from Sushma’s little black book of local personalities who have been a part of the Asian radio scene in Bahrain from the beginning. Added to that, is the goalive backbone of Rakesh and Sumesh and this is a community station in a way that only a close-knit family of listeners can understand. “You see, that’s our USP at 104.2 – we may play songs from Bollywood and other regional movie industries of the Indian sub-continent but we are rooted in the Bahraini scene,” Sushma points out, “Right now, when the whole Kingdom is in some level of isolation, I believe we offer a sense of belonging to a wider community and keep listeners connected to what is happening outside their homes, their work
camps and their immediate circle of family and friends.” She adds, “We are truly a ‘Made in Bahrain’ station and every team-member, whether RJ or techie or admin staff, is part of the Bahrain community and that sense of belonging reaches our listeners too.”
Bigger portfolio
Unlike the old days, social media welcomes listeners into the studio virtually through Facebook, Instagram and other channels, so they can put a face to the name of their RJs. That same technology has changed how radio stations operate and RJs today are expected to understand all about sound control, setting up playlists and to multi-task. “On-air, a second’s gap translates into what seems like two minutes of awkward silence. So RJs have to learn how to keep up a sensible patter of news and views, interweave songs, ads and traffic updates which are time-sensitive. I consider our radio team as Corona warriors who come out each day to bring listeners news, music and moments of connectivity.”
Going forward, 104.2 will expand its portfolio of programmes with talk shows, religious talks interpreting Islam and interactive programmes such as quizzes and Antakshari game shows etc. It will also be adding other widely-spoken sub-continental languages like Tamil and Bangla to its entertainment mix. “In Bahrain, running a radio station is very different so many listeners have told me that our shows help
them overcome a sense of loneliness and share good times with friends and family. Staying away from family, we often get listeners asking us to talk more and play fewer songs because they can download the songs but not the community news! We also get many Bahraini listeners who know more about our music than us.” So let’s stay tuned and welcome the sounds of 104.2 back into our lives.
THE A N I O
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More than her made-for-radio voice, its Sushma Athilat’s personality that rides the airwaves on 104.2,, Bahrain’s on-again-off-again Indian radio station. As a well-known media face straddling radio and print, with her weekly lifestyle newspaper, Sushma has a strong presence in Bahrain’s close-knit Indian community. Her role as the chirpy RJ Juhi in 104.2 dates back to 2006 when the first service made its debut and later, in 2018, she was station manager of the station’s short-lived Radio Mirchi avatar, churning out business plans and radio shows with professional ease. “Our current re-launch is unique because it was literally completed in a couple of days,” Sushma says, “This time, one of the core reasons is to have a channel that is available round the clock to disseminate updates about Bahrain’s action plan in tackling the COVID-19 crisis. We have a huge listener pool and unrivalled penetration among blue-collar workers. This makes it easy for us to communicate news, rules and the need for health precautions to the public.”
- I’m a selfie queen and because my work takes me to celeb circles, I get many opportunities to post interesting pix. But its also a way of getting a handle on technology because my daughter is constantly correcting my choice of lighting, angles and poses! - I have two left feet but in my mind, I can crack every choreographed move! My daughter Trishala is a great dancer, so I guess it just jumped genes! - Our family is ruled by our resident dictator Romeo – we all work to his doggy routine! - My husband Hari is the wind beneath my wings. When I used to do early morning shows, he used to make sure I was ready on time at the crack of dawn and even circle the interesting news bits for me in the papers!