Mar 3: Munna Bhai hijacks Indian Radio Show at Virginia Tech

This weekend the Indian Hour will be hijacked by "Munna Bhai." Don't be scared, actually we have a new RJ for the Indian Radio show at Virginia Tech. His name is Nikhil Nair. He played the character of "Munna Bhai" in 2006 Diwali Show. Do listen to the show and call 1-540-231-9888 for requests. Keep listening Anurag

Details of Interview with Vice President of BPD

I am posting the audio clips of the interview I had with Vice President of Bharat Punarnirman Dal (BPD), Mr. Ravi Kishore. For the complete radio show Hear Download Starting with introducing Ravi... "Ravi Kishore, a 26yr old, is a B.Tech (Aerospace Engg) graduate from IIT-Bombay. He's currently the National Vice-President & acting Spokesperson of Bharat Punarnirman Dal. Born and brought up in Hyderabad into a lower-middle class family, Ravi Kishore presently focuses primarily on the education sector at all levels. He works in coordination with NGOs across Andhra Pradesh conducting various rural education programs in remote villages. He counseled nearly 15000 students & parents across places like Manthani, Godavarikhani, Karimnagar, Warangal, Hanamkonda, Nalgonda, Miryalaguda, Tirupati & Hyderabad creating awareness about the importance of education, various career aspects, scholarships & schemes from the govt. for rural education etc. On the professional front, he is the Director of Yukti Educational Services Pvt. Ltd, an IIT-JEE coaching institute. Chess, cricket, aviation, music, movies, cartoons & comics - especially Calvin & Hobbes constitute the lighter side of his personality." The first question I asked Ravi was about the name of the political party "Bharat Punarnirman Dal." And how do they see it. Response Hear Download I though that was a long and good explanation and it was a bold statement which said that the country has not evolved strategically from the beginning. Following this I wanted to know how BPD is actually different from other political parties out there. Response Hear Download I really appreciate the points mentioned by Ravi regarding the fresh mind, new ideas, and accessibility to political system. I further asked Ravi about their vision for India as a whole, which includes every individual from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Nagaland to Gujarat. He tried to present his vision according to what's happening around in India. Response Hear Download While talking about his Vision, Ravi brought up this energy issue. Energy is definitely going to be the driving force of political turmoil in near future. As an example, now even the suburbs of Mumbai are witnessing severe power cuts. During our talks, the issue of nuclear energy also came up, and we talked about the recent pact between India and US regarding that. Response Hear Download Harsha Rajasimha from Blacksburg, VA wanted to know how the party structure of BPD is organized? While asking about the party structure, I also asked Ravi about their website? I did talk to him about the strength of party. Response Hear Download Harsha asked how are the current recruiting process focused? Response Hear Download A question came up with a tag of IIT related thing in the party. Response Hear Download Then we talked about how they plan to succeed in a country where half of the people are illiterate? Response Hear Download The Ravi mentioned about the recent elections they contested and their plans for immediate future. Response Hear Download Three from Kanpur and two from Lucknow in an assembly of more than 400? I wanted more clarification on that. Response Hear Download So I wanted to know more about their screening process. Response Hear Download Plan for big political field UP? How you plan in just two remaining months? Response Hear Download I wanted some clarification on their poor coverage in media. Response Hear Download I absolutely loved Ravi's response on this question about his inspiration. Response Hear Download I asked how to vote from different place. He instead asked for more awareness Response Hear Download (The links will be updated in next few hours)) So, any message for listeners Response Hear Download These are all open source audio files posted on http://archive.org. You can link them from wherever you want. You can also transcribe it in English or any other language. Do post for your comments... Anurag

Feb 24: A meeting with the National Vice President of Bharat Punarniman Dal

Hi, As you know that the planned interview with the leaders of Bharat Punarnirman Dal could not take place on the radio on Feb 17 due to severe internet problems. I conducted an interview again with the National Vice President of Bharat Punarnirman Dal, Mr. Ravi Kishore on skype, but it was offline. I asked him several questions on various issues and I recorded the interview. I will play its parts on the radio show on Feb 24. I will also post the parts of interview on this blog soon after the radio show. Do call on the radio show at 1-540-231-9888 to request songs and discuss what I am talking about. Anurag PS: I am recruiting a pool of RJs for the Indian Radio show at Virginia Tech. Please contact me if you are interested.

Feb 17: A meeting with the President of Bharat Punarnirman Dal

Edit on Feb 18, 2007: The show did not go so well as I planned. We had lot of internet connection issues that day. Even people could not listen to the webstream. I will try to conduct an offline interview and update about developments soon. As I promised in my blog post on Raag's Corner, I have arranged a meeting with the President of Bharat Punarnirman Dal (BPD), Mr. Ajit Shukla and spokesperson of BPD, Mr. Ravi Kishore. As I did mention, BPD is a political organization started by students, primarily from IITs in India. They are planning to contest some elections in following years. I really welcome this novel thought and the passion of these young students to do something for their country. In the radio show on Feb 17, I will be talking to Mr. Ajit Shukla and Mr. Ravi Kishore through skype teleconferencing and will ask him several questions, regarding the mission and vision of their party. The show that day will have less of songs and more of interview. You are also welcome to ask Mr. Ajit Shukla some questions. The number to call that day will be 1-540-231-9888. The show will be broadcast live 1:00 - 2:30pm (EST) and 11:30-1:00am (IST). The show can he heard on air in Blacksburg area on 90.7 FM, and on internet all over the world on http://www.wuvt.vt.edu/main.html (Click on "Listen Online"). The recording of the show will also be available on this site after the show. If you want me to ask him some specific questions, please post them in the comments. Keep Listening. Anurag PS: I am recruiting a pool of RJ for the Indian show. If you are interested, please post your name and contact information to mishranurag (at) gmail (dot) com. Qualification - "Passion."