There's no way you can miss the energy and the enthusiasm with which she talks, as you sit in Seetal Iyer's cabin at the WorldSpace studio in Bangalore. Neither can you miss the gramophone in a corner, or the CD covers of old Hindi films, that dot the wall behind her.

If you were around in Bangalore in 2000 or thereabouts, you certainly would know who Seetal Iyer is. She of the Radiocity fame, she of the 'Matinee Show' fame, and she of the 'Full Meals' fame. A favourite RJ of old Hindi music buffs.

Her shows on the private FM channel Radiocity, made a huge connect with listeners, as she sifted through hundreds of old songs and played them, a Suman Kalyanpur song or a Naqsh Lyallpuri composition, reminiscent of the Vividh Bharathi era.

That was seven years ago. "I was no Hindi film music buff in the true sense of the word, though music always played on the radio somewhere. I never went out and bought cassettes or anything, but music was surely part of the growing up years," she recollects. "You cannot escape listening to radio, growing up in a typical South Indian family," she adds.

And then, this "lazy Libran" as she calls herself, had to do a lot of hard work, and do the research to build the database of songs. Also, private channels were in their infancy then, so there were no established jockeys to look up to, she says. Research and experience help, she hastens to add. "If you listen to a 'Pyaar Hua Ikraar Hua' a 1,000 times, the 1001th time, you notice a certain instrument used in a particular manner, that you had never paid attention to before," she explains.

Today, Seetal is Group programme director, WorldSpace. She is in charge of programming and content of 'Moksha', a 24-hour channel on spirituality, apart from looking into the content of 'Farishta', the 24-hour Hindi music channel.

"As part of Moksha, we have a series of programmes lined up. 'Ask Chanakya' adapts Chanakya's treatise 'Arthashastra' to modern management techniques. Then there is another programme called 'Boardroom Yogis'. This shows the human side of corporate honchos," explains Seetal.

When one asks her about the cynicism surrounding self-help techniques, Seetal says, in fact, new age techniques are gaining a lot of credence everywhere. And the USP of Moksha is its focus and depth, she points out.

Power to surprise

Talking of the power of radio, Seetal feels the ipods and the MP3 players are no match when it comes to creating magic. And then the "power to surprise." Serendipity. Also, radio is about touching lives, says the Tamil Iyer girl who grew up in Gujarat. She recalls the day the Gujarati channel at WorldSpace was launched, she turned on the radio to listen to a forgotten Gujarati song. "I immediately picked up the phone, and made my mom listen to that song, and it brought back a lot of memories," she says. Talk of radio and nostalgia! Then, she loves the feedback she gets as part of her job. She shows us postcards from places such as Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh. "There are letters we get from Merchant Navy ships," she exclaims.

A stint in print journalism (The Sunday Observer and Femina) and then with indya.com, the website where she wrote columns, in a way prepared her for research when it came to radio.

So, did radio bring her to Bangalore? In fact, it was marriage. Her husband got a job in the City and Seetal had to follow. Talk of marriage and the ubiquitous question follows. How does she balance home and career? "I am sorry to disappoint, but I am not one of those who claim to be the perfect homemaker and the multi-tasker. Also, I have an excellent support system at home, so no hassles," she says.

What are her views on 'Women's Day' and all the brouhaha over it? "The day when we don't have to celebrate Women's Day, the day when I can backpack alone somewhere in Haryana, that day is the day women can feel truly emancipated," the RJ-turned Programme Director says.

When not at work...

What does Seetal do when she is not at work? "I read a fair bit, but I am not a literature buff. I don't enjoy non-fiction as much as I do fiction. I listen to music, yes, I like some of the new Hindi songs," she says.

And the movies? "Well, I can watch all kinds of films. I have even sat through a film like 'Janasheen'! (a Fardeen Khan starrer). But, even for someone like me, who can tolerate really bad cinema, 'RGV Ki Aaag' was a shocker," she exclaims.

Chatting her up, one realises that she is your quintessential 'journo' who is open to varied influences. No narrow definitions, and none of those stereotypes. Conversation with her is a breeze. No wonder radio works for her!