CJTR brings South Asian flavour to diverse audience
Local radio station relies on volunteers and fundraising
When Laila Hirani started Djing on CJTR four years ago, she wanted to diversify an already diverse show.
Mehfil had begun broadcasting 15 years before that, catering to a Pakistani audience. The name means gathering or party.
Hirani and her co-host — her husband Aziz Sabuwala — wanted to grow the party.
“The demographic of Regina is changing so much, right? So we wanted to incorporate all of the South Asian communities,” said Hirani.
So they changed the show’s name to Bollywood Mehfil and broadcast in Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati, Kutchi, Marathi, Telugu and Punjabi — the seven languages Hirani and Sabuwala can speak between the two of them.
“The best part of doing this show, honestly, it’s to be able to tell our own stories in our own way,” said Hirani, who’s on every Saturday at 1 p.m.
“I like that there’s a lot of freedom in what I can play,” said Kelly Cairns, who hosts another show on CJTR, Biscuits and Gravy, Thursdays at 7 a.m.
“I’m always kind of dissatisfied with what I hear on regular radio. Like, they don’t play a lot of female artists, they don’t play a lot of new stuff, and not a lot of local stuff.”
On CJTR, Cairns added, “If you’re a new Canadian or someone who English is your second language, or you’re just coming from a subculture of music choices, it’s nice to have a place where you can go to, even if it’s just once a week, to hear something familiar.”
Regina’s community radio station is a non-profit organization. Its hosts are volunteers — CJTR program director Amber Goodwyn often refers to “people-powered radio” — and the station relies on donations to run.
Hence its Look and Listen Lottery, which is on now. Tickets are $20 each and vacations are the prize.
Proceeds this year will help fund the transition to on-demand programming — i.e. podcasts — so people can listen any time.
“That’s exciting,” said Cairns, “so I can say, ‘Oh, you’re not up at 7? That’s OK. You can tune in on demand.’”
That should help listeners of
Bollywood Mehfil, some of whom tune in from as far away as New Zealand and England.
Bollywood Mehfil is a music-based show, sometimes focusing on themes if there’s a specific festival or celebrity birthday happening that week.
They also have guests and information sessions, geared to newcomers who speak their languages.
“Let’s say winter’s coming; we’ll try to feature something like winter driving in Regina. Because we’re also catering to the new immigrants who may or may not know about different things in Canada. So sometimes we’ll have a health professional; recently we had a realtor,” said Hirani, who moved to Regina six years ago from Ontario.
The demographic of Regina is changing so much, right? So we wanted to incorporate all of the South Asian communities.
That said, not all listeners are newcomers.
Even though Hirani and Sabuwala don’t broadcast in English, “music has no language, right?”
Hirani says she hears from people who have never been to Bangladesh or Nepal or Sri Lanka.
“I love it when we get calls from listeners … born and raised in Canada, who say ‘I could not understand a single word, but I loved that last song you played, what was it?’” said Hirani.
“I think that’s truly the strength of music. And I got to learn that after hosting the show; I never realized that growing up.”
Look and Listen Lottery tickets are on sale until April 15 at noon. The draw is April 17.
The grand prize is a vacation worth $5,000 to one of four locations — Paris, Scotland, Portugal or Newfoundland. Tickets are $20 and available at 306-525-7274 or in person at CJTR (1102 8th Ave.), by e-transfer to radius@cjtr.ca, and from volunteers.
Visit cjtr.ca for more information.