Good-bye, Farewell & Amen..Sunshine Girl

Totttttallly my pleasure, I must say...
Ohhh my Gaaaaawd!!! I am humbled & thrilled...
Phew!!! Touching one...
Gooooooooooood Morning Baaaaaangalore...

I think most of you must be missing these lines just as the way I am missing right now.

The ‘sunshine girl’ who brightened Bangalore City has now dusked into history. We wouldn’t get to listen to her voice anymore. Saturday she decided to move-on who was unanimous queen of hearts since 4 years now for millions of radio-fans like me. From a mere listener to ardent listener of radio, I transformed with her shows.

When Vasanti’s Box was opened, along with all the evils & vices came something that would turn out to be the elixir of life – Hope. It’s the drug that all of us live on, and it’s the only ray of light that gives you belief in the dark. That’s the caliber RJ Vasanti had.

She marauded her listeners & changed the traditional RJ perceived. She was ready for her own onslaught.

We take time to open up to people but there are some people whom I connect instantly. It surprises me how I get into long conversations with people we barely know. Vasanti was one whom I could connect to as well.

It is ironical that while she was the breakfast and travel companion for lakhs of Bangaloreans she rarely shared the breakfast tables with her own family even on holidays – for these are occasions for special shows on air. Well, such is life…


Professionally, her big moment was when she was chosen to represent India at the “Global Young Leaders Seminar” in Salzburg. Trivialities such as the color of your skin just did not figure as they plunged themselves into scenario- building - on how the world should look in the year 2030. She spoke on “Radio for Social Change”.

She did her bit to create an awareness, rope in organizations to this big cause thereby bringing people ready to help and the needy together. A concerted plan is slowly emerging from her efforts in building ‘a sunshine’ community for Bangalore. For this she truly deserves the title, ’Bangalore’s sunshine Girl’

She vows that she will never delete that mail by Mr. N. R. Narayanmurthy, “I listen to Vasanthi’s shows whenever I can. I notice that she has a genuine desire to make a difference to the world around her. She has the power to mould the opinion of over 2 million listeners through her radio show.” was at once wonderfully motivating and humbling for her.



When Radio or even disc Jockeying is full of negatively funny ’evil’ pranksters who love to rip you apart, here was a person with whom you will ‘connect’ endlessly without squirming in your seat. Little wonder that she was chosen for the Radio Excellence Award for the India's Best English RJ.

Vasanthi Hariprakash must surely be the fizziest thing amongst all those that dot the FM horizon with their light-hearted banter. Her energetic waking up of the city with a beautiful thought here, a concerned enquiry there, a sympathetic tch! tch! sprinkled at the right moments ringing laughter in us. Speaking your hearts language she truly did. She spoke 6 languages including Hindi, Kannada, Gujrati, Tamil, English etc. ….!! Vasanthi’s intensity and depth as a person, her genuine desire to heal and make a difference was apparent. She has deeply lived those moments and feels good that she can keep that faith for that is the beginning of change to other people.

Her shows – Breakfast with the brats for kids, Friday Flashback for hindi retro, her fitness tips, her investment suggestions, party at 6-40, by-2-coffee, babbar sher & lingo-leela for vocabulary enhancements. Bangalore Talkies, Idly vada funda, Music-e-azam, her interviews diverse with people spanning to NRN, bolly celebs, journos, her London travel-tales..list seems endless, every bit of it would be missed for a long time to come. The scaled success of hers would be unachieved by other RJs for a long time to come.

Her choice of songs which unwound me is truly commendable.

I owe all my gratitude & thanks to her for being such an influencing factor all these days.
I infact have few memories with her to cherish, I had spoken to her on-air & met her couple of times in Radio-city studio & inside Infy campus as well.

Now she has moved-on, I wish her the best of Life’s Journey & a bright future ahead.
Wish to see her back soon… as she told even she missed Radio badly when she moved out…

Sayonara Vasanti, Kabhi Alvida na kehana..

PS: For people who don’t know, Vasanti was the most celebrated RJ of Radio-City 91.1 Bangalore.
PPS: She can now be reached through www.vasanthihariprakash.com
PPPS: I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy

Down the dark cloud...

When I was in school there was a tradition which I followed for sometime, I visited the temple.

On one particular Thursday, I did the normal routine; I noticed something pass-by me. Little effort it took to my intelligence, I found out that it was a funeral mass. While that was not strange, normally funerals had 2 alter boys or more. Then I realized that there was only the usual hand full of regulars. There didn't seem to be anyone from the deceased family.
(I seem to remember that it was an old woman might be wrong)
I stood by to look towards the grave-yard, there were even fewer people there and although I was only a kid aged around 11 – 12, A sadness came upon me because I thought that if there was no one to go to her funeral - was there anyone to visit her when she was alive.

That was about 12 years ago and that memory has stayed with me all this time. While it is an old memory, some thing like loneliness would always spark that memory.

I suppose that most people would think that loneliness mainly affects the elderly and while that is true for the most part I think that it covers any age and gender.

People can feel isolated when they are away from family and friends or from their normal surroundings. e.g. working abroad, studying.

I was listening to a radio programmed about the remote islands once and the topic of being alone came up. This woman that sounded about 50 or so was saying how her husband had died had her daughter, who was married had to leave the island for work and school for the kids. The woman was nearly in tears telling how lonely she was and that her daughter could only come once or twice a year. It would break the hardest or hearts, it brought a tear to my eye.


There is a distinction between loneliness due to emotional isolation and loneliness due to social isolation. Emotional isolation appears in the absence of close emotional attachment whereas social isolation appears in the absence of an engaging social network.

I haven't experienced a twinge of loneliness myself in a long time - but now when I am loaded with a heavy load of sorrows by life and another time out of the blue when I was left by my friend to pursue his dreams. Both lasted long & the latter being stretched.

People’s personality comes into it too. Some are perfectly content to be on their own for long periods of time while others are totally unsuited to it.

What do you think?

I know it is a bit heavy of a topic but some thing to think about?