Bhai, ek baar Aashiqui 2 ka gaana bajaayein? (Shall we play that Aashiqui 2 song once?)," asks Sooraj, smiling at the robust man in a bright yellow t-shirt who is sitting next to him. "I will play it only on one condition," replies the man, Virender, in a clear, booming voice, in an interesting mix of Hindi and English. "You have to stop calling me bhai. As you know from experience, bhaigiri has rather gruesome interpretations in the jail." The casual banter receives loud whoops and cheers in the 'Control Room' of Tihar Jail in Delhi - south Asia's largest prison - as armed policemen, technicians and law officers guffaw knowingly while humming the romantic chartbuster, Tum hi ho.
This is FM TJ - the jail's very own radio channel operated solely by its inmates - a first for any high-security prison in the country. Launched earlier this week, FM TJ (short for Tihar Jail) is aired across the detention barracks of Central Jail Number 4 from a small room within the prison. In the last few days, says a senior Tihar Jail officer, scores of reporters and news channels have descended upon this tiny control room which was previously used to make announcements within the jail.
Inside the room, security is tight, yet the atmosphere is anything but sombre. The three cheerful radio jockeys, Shehzad, Virender and Sooraj (last names have been withheld on request), have donned headphones and operate the software with great ease. Requests from other inmates are pouring in; a local officer guarding the entrance has been visiting the barracks (the part of the prison inaccessible to media most of the time) and procuring requests for songs, jokes and quirky declarations.
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The radio station is part of a spate of prison reforms and recreation activities launched by the jail in the last few years. In 2011, in an initiative called "Redefining life behind bars", the prison partnered with Delhi's Select Citywalk mall to exhibit TJ's range of goods, including bakery products, handloom and textile, apparel, furniture, mustard oil, recycled hand-made paper products, paintings, jute bags and herbal products - all manufactured by the inmates of Tihar Jail. The ISO-certified goods are now retailed in a clean, air-conditioned space within the jail. "These goods are sold to all the courts in the city," says law officer Sunil Gupta, a Tihar Jail spokesperson.
"The motive behind FM TJ is to keep the inmates gainfully occupied," says Tihar Jail Director General (Prisons) Vimla Mehra. "This will inculcate communication skills in them and counter depression and suicidal tendencies," she hopes. As we speak, Mehra is busy shortlisting yoga and dance instructors for the inmates' physical curriculum. Earlier this week, the prison inaugurated its very own blanket-making unit at Central Jail Number 8 and 9, yet again under brand TJ. The unit can produce up to 3,000 blankets in a month.
To train the inmates in the art of radio jockeying, the prison roped in Lakshay, an NGO founded by Santosh Rao, a former radio jockey. After auditioning and training the inmates for over a month, Rao selected the three candidates who will now be the voices behind FM TJ. "Ever since the FM was launched," says Mehra winsomely, "every inmate tells me that he wants to be an RJ too!"
The initiative seems to be producing results. "I was battling acute depression and didn't feel like eating," says Virender. "Now I am putting all my energy into the radio station." As the local officer submits the requests to the RJs, the men get to work. Each song has to be aired with a small script, some "chutkula" (joke) - Santa-Banta jokes are the favourites - or "jail humour", says Virender. Shehzad, the quietest of the three, speaks excellent Urdu, we are told, and often regales the jail authorities with shayari. "We try to present each tidbit or song with a story. It's just like serving a delicacy; presentation is important," he says. None of the three reveal the crime or period of their sentence.
Plans are on to air FM TJ across 10 barracks at Tihar. "We will take it to the international prisons by 2015," beams Virender. "And perhaps, when they see the good work I am doing, they will reduce my prison term."
