Feature

Saushan Rahman

"HELLO shobai, welcome to amar 98.4! Ami RJ Nusrat, tar mane bujhtei parchen ghorite shomoy shokal 11, ar tai ami chole asechi apnader sathe adda debar jonno. Whether you are at work, study, or at home, spend 11:00 to 2:00 pm with RJ Nusrat on Amar 98.4. Sit back and enjoy a sweet and sour mix of music, lifestyle tips, entertainment, news and gossip."

Do the lines sound familiar? They can be heard from almost every corner of the city. Whether stuck in the traffic, or sitting idle at home or having a good time with friends, one thing that remains a constant companion is the radio, an instrument that is making a strong comeback. Thanks to the new radio stations Radio Today and Radio Foorti, this revival incorporates music, song request programs, tips, juicy gossip and more, along with the usual dose of information. These two stations have definitely brought some innovation in our lives.

But above all these, radio stations have revived the concept of the RJ, creating a new job field for the youngsters of our country. Previously Radio Metro had their shows hosted by RJs, but unfortunately the station did not sustain for long.

Nusrat Chowdhury, a student of BRAC University, widely known as RJ Nusrat, has been working at Radio Foorti for eight months. She tells Star Campus about her journey at the station and about her job.

"I first came to know about Radio Foorti from a friend. Later I got to know about it from bdjobs.com. After applying, I got a call from the station for an interview. Daniel Afzalur Rahman, the producer of Radio Foorti, took the first interview. Then I was called for another interview, which was taken by Sayeed Kabir, the CEO of the station. Then came the voice test where I was given a script and was asked to read it over the microphone. Later I was informed that I was selected."

When asked why she wanted to be an RJ, Nusrat replied, "This whole concept is new in our country, and I believe that it has a good prospect here in Bangladesh. I believe (and my friends agree) that I can speak well, so I wanted to put those skills to use. Besides, I want people to feel like they are listening to a close friend when they tune into my show. I also believe that through my profession I have been able to reach out to people. People send us e-mails to convey their messages to each other. That makes us their medium of conveying messages, in a way."

About response from the listeners she says, "Well, we are getting good response from both fans and people who are interested in being an RJ. I get lots of fan mail everyday. Some people even come to the station to meet us. Then there are people who are interested in being an RJ. I believe soon this will become a popular job among young people."

About her job she says," When I enter the On-air room, I feel both nervous and powerful. I feel nervous because the whole city is listening to me live. They only know my name and can hear my voice. It is my words that reach out to them. I have to create a character through my voice. In this regard I believe that we need some training, which would make it easier on our part to perform. The voice is the main thing in this profession, so by training, the performance could be improved."

After the launch of the radio station, some listeners had complained regarding the pronunciation of the RJs. Many said that the RJs speak Bangla with a heavy accent. Some even complained that their English is full of grammatical mistakes and they need to work on the pronunciations as well. Regarding this complaint Nusrat says, "Well so far I haven't received any complaints, but I do believe that the listeners have every right to complain regarding any such matter. It is better to have critical appreciation than uncritical applause. If there is any complaint then I would surely work on it."

In these few months, radio has become a popular media. People are tuning into radio stations whenever they can. In fact it is the young generation who are more into this media. Perhaps this will help them raise their voice and help get their ideas heard.