After being associated with numerous brands and companies, Lokesh has finally found his niche as the face of Delhi's Fever 104. As the host of Balle Balle Delhi, he has also been the first RJ in the country to promote tourism for Nepal.

Caught in a conversation with Radioandmusic.com's Shabana Ali, Lokesh discusses his love for the medium.
Excerpts-

You have been an RJ for ten years now...

I have been in this profession out of love for the medium. Radio has a very good sense of suspense attached to it. People are not able to see you so the mystery is something which keeps the excitement on. I like the freedom of imagination the medium gives you. I tried copyrighting for some time but, my love for radio kept me pulling back to it.

If I ever shift mediums, I will choose TV but I would still somehow make sure I am in touch with radio.

How did Fever happen to you?

Prior to Fever, I was working with Hum FM in Dubai. I was looking out for an opportunity in India because the second phase of FM in India was just starting. I got in touch with the station through my contacts and was soon hired by it.

Can you tell me more about you show �Balle Balle Dilli'?

It's a four hour show from 7 am to 11 am. It's a completely whacky, mad show, fully in sync with my personality because I am very unpredictable and absolutely whacky person. And that's what the show is all about, very light vibed, crazy and fun.

We have a lot of contests throughout the show. I also have the news section where I take public opinions regarding the major happenings in the city. Besides that, I have a lot of features - one of it is �Jo sota hai who khota hai' which is �you snooze and you lose' where you have to register with my show and when I call them in the morning, they have to answer my call in three rings or ten seconds. And if the caller answers my call in that time, then you win and if you don't, then you lose.

Which is your target audience?

Basically, it's the age group of 18 to 24, the young executives, college students, people who are going to colleges or offices, and it's mostly young people. Apart from that, I also get calls from homemakers, small children - specially during the summer vacations. So, there are a lot of callers from different age groups, but most of them are young people who are driving to their jobs or work places.

Are timeslots important to you?

I started with the afternoon slot of Fever. I used to host the show from 3 pm -7 pm before I started doing the morning slot. For me, slots are not really that important. It's important to have fun in the show more than anything else. It's immaterial if I do the morning slot or the evening slot or the afternoon slot at the end of the day. I am what I am. It is just very essential to have fun on the show for me. Being a morning jock, it's good to start the day early and end by the time others start their day. So, you just happen to get enough time for yourself though, it becomes a bit hectic as we have to start our day by 4 am - 4.30 am. But the timeslots hardly matters to me. It's more about enjoying your work.

Is there a difference in preparing for morning slots and afternoon slots?

Well there aren't many difference in it needed for both the slot. Fever is format radio station. So, they kind of have the same kind of format and content throughout the day. Primarily, for the whole day, the medium is about entertainment, fun, it's about Bollywood, sports and Delhi city. But yes, the morning show is an important part of the day so, you have a lot of features, contest, and other stuff. It needs you to be updated about everything before others are.

Lately, you have been to Nepal to promote tourism. Was it easy to promote tourism through the radio?

When I was asked to do it, for the first time, I had my doubts about it, but after the Nepal experience, I am so sure that radio as a medium can actually promote tourism. I got a huge response from people saying that I created a nice picture of Nepal in our mind. It's just like writing a book or an article about a place. You have to have the right kind of word and expression to create a beautiful picture in for your audience. It one of the first travelogue done on radio and I am glad I was the first to do that.

Can you tell us more about your association with Hum FM in Dubai?

I was primarily there as a jock in the station. I also worked in the production. I was basically brainstorming ideas for the show and did a lot of talk shows, kid shows and request shows. I used to bring ideas for promos and writing for the station as well.

Did you find it difficult to communicate with the audience there?

Hum FM is an Asian radio station so the content was in Hindi, Urdu and English. We used to interact with our callers in either of the three languages. It wasn't that difficult to communicate with them. Basically the radio station targeted for the Indian, Pakistani audience there.

How different are the audiences abroad? What kind of music is in demand in Dubai?

Bollywood is very big and that is the most popular out there. Apart from that, even Pakistani rock is also catching up. And of course, English is also liked by many of them.

If not an RJ, you would have been..?

Well, it seems like I have become very old. Actually, there are a lot of things that I still want to do. I would definitely never want to leave the medium but at the same time, I want to do a lot of things. I want to start a restaurant which would be called �blurps and fart' (laughs). It would be a total freaked out restaurant which would have seats in the shape of a commode and tables in the shape of wash basin or sink. It would have hand showers as its cutlery. Then I want to write my own book, I want to do my own television show or a celebrity show or something on those lines. And of course, I want to direct a movie.