Net radio belts out old numbers

Eprasaran, founded by 4 Indians in the US, is a radio portal that offers live music to listeners

Devanshi Joshi. Vadodara/DNA

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Old numbers like Ajaho na aaye balma sawan beeta jay and Pavan diwani may be difficult to find at any CD rack of a music lover, but not on Eprasaran, an internet radio founded by four Indians settled in the United States.What started as a hobby two years back for the Gokhales and Vaidya couples has now evolved into an internet radio station in the form of Eprasaran providing music lovers with a wide range of old classics to latest arrivals in Bollywood. In a candid chat with DNA, Madhura Gokhale, one of the founders, said, "We started the music portal for the love of music, but then we started receiving appreciation emails not only from India but from far off countries such as Germany and Japan and requesting music to be played of their choice on the radio. We never expected it to become so popular" At present, an estimated ten thousand listeners tune in to the radio station. "Indian listeners from different corners of the globe send us copies of musical programmes and their collection requesting it to be aired on Eprasaran. We get frequent requests from listeners in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and other parts of Gujarat too," she added.Eprasaran not only caters to a wide range of musical programmes but also airs talk shows, drama, religious discourses and interviews. "Initially we started with Marathi broadcasts, but following demand of Hindi listeners, we started providing more of Hindi music," said Madhura. "With a hectic work schedule, it is difficult to create and manage radio programs, but appreciation and requests from listeners give us the inspiration to be on our toes," she added.With programmes relayed 24x7, live music is just a click away.