Multi-cultural, multi-lingual Nepal needs more radio jockeys like Prabhat Rimal. In the studios of Kantipur FM in Patan, Prabhat weaves seamlessly from Nepali into English and Newari. "I guess you rarely find a bahun ko chhoro who speaks fluent Newari," he says. The Makhan-born-and-bred Prabhat hosts Nepalaya during which he chats to his callers in Nepalbhasa and plays Newari songs for half an hour every Tuesday.
"Initially, speaking entirely in Newari was difficult. I'd drop in a word or two of Nepali. But not anymore," says Prabhat whose childhood in inner-city Kathmandu made him easy with Newari language, culture and food. "Practice has improved my Newari," says Prabhat. Now he can even tell by the accents of the phone-in callers whether they are from Bhaktapur, Patan or Kathmandu.
He also hosts Online Demand, a popular request program for Nepalis abroad. "It's amazing what multimedia can do. We have Nepalis from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Dubai, Singapore, the US, UK, even Argentina, requesting Nepali songs," he says. Hot Tracks, another one-hour programme he hosts, is his personal favourite-rhythm and blues, jazz, rock, music of the 70's and 80. For someone who grew up listening to Led Zeppelin and Bob Dylan, and used money for school fees to buy the latest tapes, hosting the show is more like a hobby than a job.
The RJ still has a fan following from his Marlboro Music Hour days, a show he hosted everyday for an hour for a year-and-half, switching easily from Nepali to Newari and English. Those were the heydays of FM in Kathmandu. He says: "FM was new, people wondered at the persona behind the voice." Six years down the line, FM's novelty might have worn off, but its popularity hasn't despite there being six FM stations in Kathmandu Valley. "There's a new generation of Nepalis hooked to it. I think FM has become more informative, responsible, and mature," he says.
There are those who think FM is too light. But Prabhat shrugs this off:
"Bill Clinton can go play a saxophone in a bar, and people applaud. But if the PM or a politician did it here, the Nepali intelligentsia would frown." Maybe not, if Prabhat himself became a politician!
