One of the hosts of Radio Masti 96.3, Singapore’s only Hindi-language radio station, Mumbai transplant Rohini Ramnathan probably knows the city’s Indian community better than anyone. From curious phone calls from her listeners to being recognized by cab drivers, she has some interesting stories to tell. Here, she talks to us about why Deepavali in Singapore is so great and why radio will never die.

I love the multiculturalism of Singapore. And the food! And the cocktails. Also, its proximity to destinations in Southeast Asia. But more than anything, it's the strong work ethic, the inspiring story of progress and the little giant status. 

Still, the absence of distinct seasons makes me feel like time is moving very slowly. 

Mumbai and Singapore are essentially immigrant cities. Both are ports and their very nature are defined by the steady influx of immigrants that let the city shape their own futures. And both are food cities—lucky me! 

I really wish Mumbai would get the organization of Singapore. The fact that everything works is something that I really love.

I can't wait for Singapore to have a bigger movie industry someday. There have been examples of great films, like Ilo Ilo, coming out of Singapore. This city needs to tell more stories of its own people.

I try and find interesting people to talk to on my show. And that usually starts when I take a cab to work every day. Cabbies in Singapore could be a whole audio series.

There's a science to placing every song on the show, believe it or not! There’s a thing called mood mapping. 70% of our show is music. How do I, in the same hour, get from [popular and upbeat dance song] “Chikni Chameli” to [poetic and sad song] “Tanhai”?

I can’t play the same song at the same time two days in a row, because there’s a guy who’s stepping out every day at 5:45pm and tunes in between 5:45-6:15pm, and it’s my job to give him a different production every day.

If this was a radio station in the US, the music would be different. The Indians there are so removed from the homeland that their whole idea of India is about nostalgia.

But Singapore is closer. It has a steady influx of new Indians. The Singaporean Indians are very in tune with what’s going on with Bollywood. I don’t need to be bound by oldies. It’s such a cool mix of people turning in, they deserve a cool mix.

I try and find out if the day is important to any community that is tuning in. I try learning a lifetime of trivia everyday—from water on Mars to why Serangoon Road is called Serangoon Road to finding out that the first ever plane in Singapore landed at Farrer Park. All this is done before show time. And then I fly between five and eight pm. 

It’s a huge cross-section that tunes into my show—Singaporean Indians to new Indians to some dedicated Chinese and Malay listeners. It thrills me to bits when I get messages from non-Indians saying they may not get all the Hindi, but they love the vibe of the show. That, to me, is good radio. They are also a very smart audience, well informed and very loyal listeners. 

I love it when people say, “I know a Rohini, the Radio Masti girl.” When I tell them it's me, I love the look on their faces. I think I am Singapore's best kept secret.

Radio Masti has given me some amazing opportunities to connect with the city. I have a close radio friend and we celebrated her 60th birthday together recently. I took her to lunch at her favorite restaurant in Singapore.

She is my most regular listener and someone I meet every few months. She knows every answer to every question I ask on my show. She was born here, still works at a saree store at Tekka Market as a salesperson and tells me some amazing stories of a time before Singapore became the glitzy city it is now.

Singaporean Indians love Bollywood, and have a lot of love for the [old singers] Rafi and Kishore Kumar stuff—probably an imported nostalgia from when they were growing up. I remember a Malay gentleman have such a long discussion with me about Rafi.

My listeners know that I am a bak kut teh-loving Tamilian whose Hindi is better than her Tamil.

People said in the past that theater was a dying art and would be replaced by film and television, but time has proven that nothing replaces a live human being creating art.

Radio has the same live quality. Sure, digital media is essential, gets us closer to our fans and can be used to amplify our reach. The immediacy of social media is on par, if not quicker, than radio. But once you get the news, entertainment radio can drive opinion. 

I love the Deepavali light-up and market in Singapore. We have them in Mumbai, too, but it’s nice to see it institutionalized—how the light-up goes from September until November.  

I used to run back to India for Deepavali every year. This is the first year I’ve said, “No, I need to be here.” It’s such a personal festival—even though it’s all about food, clothes and meetings friends. You have to be around the people you love and care about. And for me, that’s happened in Singapore in 2015. It’s a very special Deepavali.