Radio run by visually impaired enters records book

Gurvinder Singh

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Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 7

Radio Udaan, an Internet radio channel run mostly by visually impaired persons, has made it to India Book of Records, becoming the first Internet radio to be operated by special people to enter the book. The radio, which was started around five years back, is the celebration of life, say its members. It was started by around six members online in parts of the country and now around 30 members, mostly visually impaired, run the channel.

Some members from Punjab, including Jyoti Malik from Ludhiana and Danish Mahajan from Pathankot, operate the radio. Divya Sharma from Nangal contributes with the content from the state. Some other members who have been associated with the radio from the beginning include Rajiv Bhambri and Saif-ur-Rehman from Delhi, and Meenal Singhvi from Hyderabad.

Danish Mahajan, who belongs to Ludhiana but works in Pathankot, shared with delight that the channel had entered India Book of Records. Speaking about how it all started, Jyoti Malik said the members got in touch online through a group on Skype. But they wanted to create a platform for helping out people with disabilities and sharing information with them, so Radio Udaan took wings.

All of them took the responsibility of some programmes of their interest. They have divided their roles. Now, around 30 members are part of the team, many of them working as RJs, and most of them are visually impaired.

Around four programmes are posted everyday and 28 shows every week. “These are all on different topics. Music programmes include ghazals, Bollywood and English songs, etc,” she said.

Educational programmes, debates, entertainment and informational programmes are streamed on the channel. “But we try to design programmes keeping in mind the people with disabilities,” she said.

A singing competition, “Udaan Idol”, was successful earlier and now “Udaan Idol Little Champ” is being created. It is only for persons with disabilities, she says.

There is no barrier now and we can connect all over the world through Internet. “We have listeners in many parts of the world, including Pakistan, the US and Nepal. We get a good feedback through Youtube, emails, etc.

Though the channel has completed five years, the members don’t intend to turn it into a profitable venture. They do it online just for the purpose of education and sharing information, she says.