DJ Host

Shifani: I did. When I was twenty one years old I got headhunted to do a show. This show was basically a freelance show that had to be done in three different languages at the same time so the range of audience was quite broad. The show was basically anything I wanted, anything I wanted to talk about. So quite often I talked about music, current events, anything political, anything non political, anything that came to my mind I would talk about.

Todd: So what were the three languages of the show?

Shifani: Hindi, Punjabi and obviously English.

Todd: OK and what was the city, where was this at?

Shifani: This was in Auckland.

Todd: OK. So this was one of these blended radio shows where you slip from one language to another?

Shifani: It was. The show was catering for everybody basically so the criteria was speak in a way that makes people understand even if they don't speak the language. So the trick was to say one third in English, the rest in Hindi and Punjabi where I could and somehow it just made sense.

Todd: How did you go about doing that? Did you plan it or does it just kind of roll off your tongue?

Shifani: For me I think it's quite natural because my parents speak in Hindi and Punjabi and so for me English is quite natural and so are the other two languages, blending them together was never a problem.

Todd: Now when you hear languages being switched back and forth like that, are you conscious of it or sometimes you are not even conscious that you're speaking one language or the other?

Shifani: I don't think I'm conscious of it at all. It just happens, it's a slip of tongue. All three languages I'm quite fluent in so for me to switch from one to the other is just a natural course of a day.

Todd: So since you have experience in the music industry, what do you think makes a good DJ?

Shifani: A good DJ is one that's neutral when they need to be and one who can switch sides very quickly and make things controversial from being neutral. What I mean by that is if you have an interesting topic and a caller calls you up and is very positive about it, a good DJ would be able to flip it over very quickly and say something that would make it controversial.

Todd: Now do you think there's a certain balance, like how much you should talk and how much music should be played?

Shifani: There is absolutely a balance. Quite often people listen to radio for music so you need to make sure that your music ratio is more than how much you talk but the amount you talk has to be interesting but quite limited.

Todd: All right, thanks a lot.

Shifani: You're welcome.