India Radio Forum

The much awaited visit to Mumbai for the India Radio Forum finally arrived and though we had a long flight in which included circling over Mumbai for an hour the night before, we made it to Taj Lands end by 8.30 am for the most celebrated event of the Radio Industry.

It was like being in Radio “Disneyland” with all the radio bigwigs in attendance with their entourage. The day went by with eye-opening sessions by international Radio Experts and some heart-wrenching appeals by the flag-bearers of the FM Radio Industry to believe and to make Radio work and grow in India.

The evening opened up with the watering hole and then the Excellence in Radio awards. Decibel levels went through the roof and we guys from Friends 91.9 FM were glad that we came all this way to take back the coveted Award for the best Morning Show (Bengali) “Selaam Kolkata with RJ Shekhar”.

During the day I stepped out to check out the view and was told that the dilapidated building in front was the once and still famous Sea Rock Hotel. It had borne the brunt of the Mumbai Blasts several years ago and never recovered from the afflictions to its façade. None of the windows were there as they were all blown out by the force of the blasts. But while old seek revival the new soar and so was true of the fascinating and mammoth pillars of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in the background. I didn’t have time to take a stroll down to the end of the road where the ramps to this mega bridge were ready, but just to see the pillars go skyward and the cables hold the rest of the structure up was awesome. It kind of made me think of the first time I saw the Vidyasagar Setu over the River Hooghly in Kolkata and how I was amazed at this marvel of engineering.