Geeta lost her father at such a very young age she doesn’t have any memories of him. While her mother was alive, Gita and her sister were supported by their relatives and lived first with their maternal uncle and then with her paternal family. She was still in primary school when her mother also passed away and her relatives stopped supporting the girls. Her grandfather had left home to follow a spiritual calling and so their grandmother was left to care for the sisters alone. The responsibility and financial burden was overwhelming for her and she did not know how she would manage.
When Geeta’s sister also died, things turned from bad to worse and her grandmother who was getting old wanted to find a safe and secure place for Geeta who was now almost 16. They both visited our Rehab Center in 2017, just after Geeta completed her 10th standard, and felt that this was the right place for her. Geeta adjusted well to life in our Home of Love, enrolling in junior college while simultaneously completing our bedside nursing assistant course and joining in with clay art at our Earth Studio. After completing her 12th Standard in arts we helped her to enroll for a degree in social work at a college in our neighbouring district of Beed. Then the Corona pandemic hit and Geeta was forced to return to Snehalaya and continue her studies through online classes and tutorials. At the same time, she also volunteered to help our Snehadhar warden in her daily responsibilities.
On a visit to our community radio, Radio Nagar 90.4FM, she was fascinated by the way the radio jockeys talked and how the songs were broadcast and she loved the way things worked there. As a regular radio listener to she felt that she could also be a radio jockey. She discussed the idea with her hostel warden and some senior staff who readily agreed to give her a go.
Geeta joined the radio team as a full-time intern and radio team, especially RJ Anu and technical head Siddhant, finding her to be a fast and dedicated learner began training her in all aspects of the radio station. Geeta says, “After Anu didi and Siddhant dada started explaining the radio workings, I realised that becoming an RJ was not that simple and required a lot of understanding and hard work. I have since learnt how to find information on the net, write scripts and speak like an RJ. This requires a lot of reading and exploring, modulating my voice so that I don’t sound boring and even keeping my talk precise. Fortunately, I have Anu didi to guide me.”
Since joining the station in August, Geeta has developed so many skills and is now independently recording a program which shares information about the latest happenings at Snehalaya, broadcast every day at 11am. She also gives her voice to social promotions and on 25 October, Geeta broadcast her first live program and was really happy with the way it went. Being a radio jockey work has given Geeta a lot of confidence, and the skills to be independent and move ahead in life. She still aims to complete her BSW followed by a Masters in Social Work, but she is also excited to follow her passion to be a successful radio jockey. With her strong determination we are sure that she will achieve both. Her hope is that she will become financially independent and able to support her grandmother who she still misses a lot.
This article was written by Geeta.
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