HYDERABAD: Meet Sri Veera Venkata Lakshmi Narayana Shiva Hari Prasad Shankar Ganesh who entertains and engages the Hyderabadis for four hours, seven days, a week. The name doesn’t ring a bell? Well, let’s try again. Meet RJ Shiv, the man who greets lakhs of denizens on his breakfast show on Radio City (91.1 FM) every morning and leaves his mark to last until the end of the day. This one certainly registers? Right? Known for his hilarious posts on social media with the hashtag #Shivodayam, this Guntur abbai has a story behind everything in his life, from his 10-letter and 68-character name to his transition from Sorghum research to the radio’s reach.
Producer of the popular show Navvula Don, a language enthusiast and a funny man in real life, the award-winning jock, who has just turned ten in his journey on the radio waves, gets wacky in an interview with Hyderabad Express.
Is it true that you have really earned a big name for yourself?
Yes, my real and full name is Sri Veera Venkata Lakshmi Narayana Shiva Hari Prasad Shankar Ganesh. I am truly a big name in the radio industry (laughs). As I was born after my parents had lost several children, they felt I was a blessing God, and decided to thank all of them. The world, however, knows me as Shiv, or simply RJ Shiv.
We hear that you wanted to get into research. Why and how did you make the transition to radio?
I did my MSc Biology from Nagarjuna University and then went on to do an MA in Hindi from Pondicherry. I also have completed my B.Ed from Hyderabad. I moved to the city to work as a translator for National Research Centre for Sorghum at Rajendra Nagar. However, I have always been a performer since I was five. From singing to dance, mimicry to emcee-ing, I have done it all. So when I got a chance to work as a freelancer with Yuvavani Hindi on All India Radio, I grabbed the opportunity. My stint at Yuvavani later paved the way to Rainbow FM in 2007.
You have also won the India Radio Forum awards
Yes, I won it four times – twice as RJ of the year and twice for hosting the Best Breakfast of the Year for 2016 and again in 2017.
What do you think your fans listen to you for?
I tell a funny quote every day and start their mornings with Shivodayam. The quote or joke usually reflects the breaking news of the day or the trending topic. Since I also put up the line on my Facebook page, many of my listeners comment adding their own take on it. I get chatting on that and the show starts off on that note. I also narrate a story every day. You must’ve heard of Hari Katha. Mine is Shiv Katha. It’s usually a five-minute short story that has an emotional angle to it. Sometimes, it’s a satire on our day-to-day lives, sometimes it gets nostalgic, sometimes, it talks about our vision for the future etc.
Can you share with us any specific interaction with your listeners that stayed with you for long?
As part of my short story series of Shiv Katha, I once narrated about how a father, who is new to the city, decides to reluctantly commutes around the city in the local city bus on a festival day. He feels that his son and daughter-in-law treat him as an intrusion on weekends and decides to spend the whole day buying tickets from one destination to the other as it seems to be the best way to kill time.
After I narrated the story, a listener called to say that he felt it was his father who could have been in the situation and that the story prompted him to bond with his father better. I take my short stories seriously as you never know how it impacts any of the 10 lakh Hyderabadis who listen to me daily.