First National Convention of Radio Udaan (2015) organized by Udaan Welfare Society and Narayan Seva Sansthan

Radio Udaan has recently completed one year on 2^nd February 2015. During this tremendous journey, the station has celebrated all the important festivals and days. If we talk about the monthly listeners’ statistics, it shuttles between 10 thousand to 15 thousand. Radio Udaan has also widened its wings across the

boundaries and is listened in around 115 countries.  Although all the members of Radio Udaan are equal and selflessly working towards the growth of Radio Udaan, yet there is a core team. The hierarchy goes like-   Minal Singhvi: Station Director, MS. Jyoti Malik: Programme Manager, MR. Danish Mahajan: General Secretary, MR. Saifur Rehman: Joint Secretary, MR. Rajeev Bhambri: Advisor.    MR. Balanagendran:

Media spokesperson.

Radio Udaan Society held its first National Convention at Ambedkar Bhawan, Panchkuiya Road , New Delhi on 31^st January 2015. The convention started at 10 am.   Shri  Awanish Awasthi , Joint Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, was the Chief Guest. Some other special guests present to grace the occasion were Shri  Lal Kaul( Gen. Secretary AICB), 

 Shri  Santosh Kumar Rungta(  Gen. secretary NFB) , Shri   Dipendra Manocha (Managing Trustee of Saksham),  Shri   Pravanjan  Sahu (In-charge of Delhi branch of Narayan Seva Sansthan),  Dr. R.K. Sarin (Gen Secretary Progressive Society),  Shri   Amrik Singh  (President of J&K Association of Tour

Operators) , Smt. Amarjeet Kaur (National Secretary , Communist  Party of India) and Shri  Prashant Tandan.

The convention started with  Sarasvati Vandana  presented by Monika Jha, Jyoti Malik, Saifur Rehman and Bhushan Prabhu. After that , the program progressed with a welcome note by Danish Mahajan. The note comprised all the essential  information about the activities and aims of Radio Udaan. Thereafter, the guests shared their valuable views with the audience and gave their best wishes for the elevated flight of Radio Udaan. Then the RJs presented a Play "Ek Naya Savera" written and directed by Mr. Danish Mahajan.  The play conveyed a  significant and  enlightening message. The unique thing about this play was that it was prepared by the RJs through internet with the help of skype. It was the first time that the RJs practically executed the play  and there was no prior practice on the stage. The characters in the play were:   Manohar Lal (Mr.Danish

Mahajan),  Janki Devi( Ms.  Swati Saxena),  Bhawana (Ms. Jyoti Malik),  Sunder Lal( Mr. Anant Dhaiya),  Sangeeta (Ms. Monika Jha), Payal( Ms. Divya Sharma), Campaigner/Teacher ( Ms.  Nikita Patil) and  Narrator ( Mr. Amit Bhatt). Just after the play, all the RJs present in the convention were awarded by the Chief Guest in appreciation of their voluntary contribution and dedication to Radio Udaan.

Next, there was a Presentation session by Ms . Divya Sharma. The topic of the presentation was “Building Self esteem.”   There was a game session also for cheering up the audience. The Game shows were hosted by Mrs. Minal Singhvi and Mr. Ashish Singla. The good thing about these activities was that all the people present there actively participated in these. 

And finally, the convention ended up on an enthusiastic  note  with a cultural program. The management, RJs and all the spectators enjoyed the dance and songs. People came up with their solo songs and all danced together on the beats of Radio Udaan.  The convention was anchored   by Mr. Amit Bhatt, Mr. Danish Mahajan and Mr. Saifur Rehman. The entire music was given by Anant Dhaiya and Party.

First Get-together of Radio Udaan

Radio Udaan family successfully had its very first get-together on Sunday, the 12TH October 2014 at   Sai Junior College for the Visually Challenged in the city of ‘nawaabs’  that is ‘ Secunderabad/Hyderabad’. The event was hosted by Meenal Singhvi , Surya Jyothi and Neha Aggarwal. The team/RJs who couldn’t become a part of it, enjoyed all the fun in the meet through online live video chat (Skype) direct from different cities. They introduced themselves and played an active role throughout the event.  The audience encompassed around 75 people including   students from Sai Junior College and Computer Instructor- Nagaprasad etc.  Even five   volunteer members of Radio Udaan family were also present there for the smooth arrangements. For the convenience of people, the whole event was translated into three languages - Hindi, English and Telugu. 

To make the event more intense and dynamic, we had a few guests too. The list of guests includes-

·       -  Rajshaker reddy from EFLU (English and Foreign Language University) along with his family. He gave an orientation on ‘Book Share’ and told about the procedure to avail the membership.

·        - Akhilesh Malani from Google. He presented a basic overview about the accessibility on applications, web, phones, etc.

·         -LVPEI' helpdesk Aishwarya and Priya accompanied by a couple of rehab candidates.

The meet commenced at 2:30pm and it went on for two hours up to 4:30pm. It began with a brief

introduction by the hosts. After this, the participants gave their introduction. Next there came an exciting segment of games. The first game of this evening was ‘Numbering game’. People energetically took part in it. After this, Ms. Meenal (The Director of Radio Udaan) presented a motivating walk. The last game of the evening was ‘balloon blowing competition’. The gusto and confidence of participants added a flavor of warmth to this mesmerizing late afternoon get-together. At last, how can I forget to mention the ‘informative interactive sessions’. These sessions enlightened the audience about the scope and availability of options for better future. The event came to an end with snacks and soft drinks.

And apparently, this first get-together became a great success.

Splashing Colors of Radio Udaan

Though our societies and nations are turning so advanced yet unfortunately whenever we hear about a visually challenged person, the first thing that pops  out in our mind is ‘Dependence and Sympathy.’  Keeping this point in mind, we are going to confront you with an initiative and innovative idea made by visually challenged people.  In present era, visually challenged people are doing   really a commendable job. Not only they are enduring the conservative mindsets but are setting benchmarks for our society. Here is an immensely inspirational story of Radio Udaan which will compel you to bring a change in your perspective towards visually challenged community.

Radio Udaan, is an internet radio station run by visually challenged people. This station is not backed by glamorous personalities or any elite class of society, but is an outcome of collective hard work of visually impaired people. The team members, RJs and the  whole Radio Udaan family is not only pursuing their respective careers, jobs or studies but investing their valuable time in this Radio Station.

The motive of this station is to color the lives of listeners with bright and sparking shades.  The Radio Station is not only catering lots of fun to listeners but also a lot of information and is elevating   their  level of knowledge . The RJs are trying their best to cover a large spectrum of information. It has included shows from Bollywood masti to book reviews, from inspirational talks to travelling information, cooking tips to social issues, religious dives to social harmony, etymology to rationality and much more. The discussions, debates and talks are icing on the cake   .  Here the     talks are not being imposed on any person but rather talks are about the listeners, their choices, sufferings, and current issues. These shows are not only broadcasted once a week but they are re-broadcasted as well. Radio Udaan also possesses an archive for those who missed their favorite shows. For the convenience of listeners, Radio Udaan has also made a provision of feedback forms. Moreover, interested listeners can also participate in our shows by filling a form on our website www.radioudaan.com. Keeping in mind the mobiles, which are the life-line of our generation, Radio Udaan provides respective options for android, IOS and other systems to enjoy the ride of this dynamic radio station.

A lay man may be thinking how is it possible, right? Well, being an RJ of this station let me introduce you with our way of working. We the visually challenged people, use screen readers to assist us in operating computers and laptops.  From switching on a computer to arrange our show stuff is done independently by us without any sighted assistance.  Every action regarding Radio Udaan like web hosting, web designing, Radio Jockeying, management; administration etc is being done by the visually challenged people. Our shows are both recorded and live ones.

Though Radio Udaan is an outcome of every RJ and the whole Radio Udaan family yet there is a hierarchy which goes like   Mrs. Minal Singhvi: Station Director, Ms. Jyoti Malik: Programme Manager, •Mr. Danish Mahajan: General Secretary, Mr. Saif Rehman: Joint Secretary, Mr. Rajeev Bhambri: Advisor and Mr. Balanagendran: Media spokes person.

Radio Udaan provides the bliss not only to our national listeners but to foreigners as well. It is being listened in more than 50 countries. This is a thread which is attaching the hearts and minds across boundaries. Indeed, ‘Radio Udaan, A flight of life’ is an example for people who think that people with vision impairment cannot do things themselves.  Radio Udaan is a firm model of ‘insight and vision’.  May be the people behind Radio Udaan lack eyesight but the canvas of their vision is much broader and innovative than that of a normal person.

So, wake up people, it is a time to cherish the deeds of visually challenged people. The need is of empathy not sympathy. Time has come that the society has to replace their old fashioned thinking with dynamic one.