Listen to the episode here: Here

Guest: RJ Purkhaa, Radio Host at Mirchi world and Mirchi_USA

• Introduction

-I am RJ Purkhaa, I host afternoon shows in Jaipur from 3 p.m to 5 p.m. and In USA from 5 p.m to 9 p.m.

• How did you get into radio industry?

-Purkhaa always wanted to be an RJ since she was a kid, she used to listen to radio all the time, used to do everything she could to have a call with an RJ.

-She’s a law graduate and a CS, but none of these things are relevant or important for becoming an RJ.

-And she’s living her dream and she always wanted to do this.

-Purkhaa’s family is full of lawyers and it gave her a push and she had to pursue a degree in law, but she enjoyed doing voiceovers so she started giving voiceover services on a freelancing platform.

-She recorded her first voiceover gig for an iPhone app (For children’s stories) and she did a lot of projects after that.

-When her family saw that she’s good at it and she enjoys doing so and is happy doing it, then they started supporting her.

-Then, she joined Radio Mirchi.

• Fan moment

-She went to Mumbai for training by Mirchi, being a talkative person she was talking to the cab driver, and when he knew that she’s an RJ working for Mirchi and has come from Jaipur, he realised that he knew her, he has watched her videos, he was connected to her on Instagram and he asked her for an autograph, unfortunately he didn’t had any paper to collect autograph on so he took a note out of his pocket and he collected her autograph very beautifully.

-It happened two years ago but still, when Purkhaa thinks about it, she’s enamoured in the memory.

• Are all RJ’s driven by passion?

-There are so many notions about becoming an RJ like people say that “you speak a lot, you should be an RJ!”, this might be one of the attributes but you really need to be very articulate, if you want to be an RJ, only speaking a lot isn’t enough.

-Whatever you speak, it should not be just for the sake of saying it, it should make sense, it should be intelligent, and the listener should always have a takeaway out of whatever you’ve spoken of whether if it’s a utility or an emotional connection or humour.

-You also have to be really presentable, as you have to interview famous politicians and celebrities, you should know how to dress up well.

-Also, you’ve to be really informed as well, if there’s a trend going on social media. If you don’t know what’s going on then how would you educate your listeners?

-And most important, you should be creative.

-People also think that you do shows for US, you must be earning in dollars. No, it doesn’t work like that.

-It’s not an easy to be an RJ, in most stations an RJ is like an one man army.

• Where do you see yourself in next 5 years?

-The number of people listening to radio has slightly increased in 2020 (30%), according to government surveys, radio is the most trusted medium for news and updates, when India’s PM is using radio, what else do you expect?

• How was your first RJ experience?

-Purkhaa was very nervous, she have always dreamt of this moment but when she has a mic in front of her and knowing that a lot of people would be listening, she was nervous.

-She wasn’t able to speak at first but she realised that she has an opportunity and she can’t let it all go waste by making any mistake.

-She had to record her first show 60 times to make it right.

• Advice for youngsters who want to become an RJ.

-If you’re creative, if you think that your pronunciation and diction is good, you’ve a presence of mind, you’re well informed and intelligent, then sure! but if you think you speak a lot and should be an RJ then No.

-Radio is as tough as any other medium, think yourself, whenever you say something on radio, around 10 lakh people are listening to you at the same time. You’ve to be responsible about what you speak and you can’t get away with what you’ve spoken.

-Please come towards radio but be prepared! Also, don’t just dream of be an RJ for the sake of money.